System and method for network reliability

ABSTRACT

A method performed by a network controller for providing network reliability. The method includes employing an Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) proxy configured to communicate controller information about the network controller to the one or more network elements using IGP (Link-State Advertisement (LSA) or Link State Protocol Data Unit (LSP)) with a Controllers TLV. The method uses the controller information for proper election of a primary controller in the event of a network failure.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of International Application No.PCT/US2021/017426 filed on Feb. 10, 2021 by Futurewei Technologies,Inc., and titled “System and Method for Network Reliability,” whichclaims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/973,000 filedFeb. 11, 2020 by Huaimo Chen, et al., and titled “System and Method forNetwork Reliability.” Both of the aforementioned applications are herebyincorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure is generally related to network management, andin particular to various embodiments of systems and methods providingfor network reliability.

BACKGROUND

Software-defined network or networking (SDN) is an approach tonetworking that uses software-based controllers or applicationprogramming interfaces (APIs) to communicate with underlying hardwareinfrastructure and direct traffic on a network. SDN separates thenetwork control plane of network devices from the underlying data planethat forwards network traffic to enable more automated provisioning andpolicy-based management of network resources. Network switches becomesimple forwarding devices and the control logic is implemented in alogically centralized controller.

SUMMARY

A first aspect relates to a method performed by a network controllerconfigured as a primary network controller of a controller cluster. Thecontroller cluster includes the primary network controller and anon-primary network controller (e.g., a secondary network controller).The primary controller is configured to control a network. The methodincludes employing an Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) proxy in theprimary network controller that is configured to communicate controllerinformation about the primary network controller to one or more networkelements in the network using IGP. The method, via the IGP proxy of thenetwork controller, establishes an IGP adjacency relationship betweenthe IGP proxy of the primary network controller and the one or morenetwork elements in the network. The IGP proxy of the primary networkcontroller advertises controller information about the primary networkcontroller to the one or more network elements. The method includes,detecting, using the IGP proxy of the primary network controller, acommunication failure with the non-primary network controller in thecontroller cluster. The IGP proxy of the network controller advertisesupdated controller information about the primary network controller tothe one or more network elements, the updated controller informationreflecting a change to the controller information caused by thecommunication failure. The method includes maintaining the primarynetwork controller as the primary network controller to control thenetwork.

A second aspect relates to a method performed by a network controllerconfigured as a non-primary network controller of a controller cluster.The controller cluster includes a primary network controller and thenon-primary network controller. The primary network controller isconfigured to control a network. The method includes employing anInterior Gateway Protocol (IGP) proxy in the non-primary networkcontroller that is configured to communicate controller informationabout the non-primary network controller to one or more network elementsin the network using IGP. The method, via the IGP proxy of thenon-primary network controller, establishes an IGP adjacencyrelationship between the IGP proxy of the non-primary network controllerand the one or more network elements in the network. The IGP proxy ofthe non-primary network controller advertises controller informationabout the non-primary network controller to the one or more networkelements. The method includes, detecting, using the IGP proxy of thenon-primary network controller, a communication failure with the primarycontroller in the controller cluster. The IGP proxy of the non-primarynetwork controller advertises updated controller information about thenon-primary network controller to the one or more network elements, theupdated controller information reflecting a change to the non-primarycontroller information caused by the communication failure. The methodincludes determining that the primary network controller has failed. TheIGP proxy of the non-primary network controller advertises secondupdated controller information about the non-primary network controllerto the one or more network elements in response to the primary networkcontroller having failed. The second updated controller informationpromotes the non-primary network controller to the primary networkcontroller of the controller cluster.

A third aspect relates to a method performed by a network controller ofa controller cluster configured to control a network. The controllercluster includes a plurality of network controllers. The method includesemploying an Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) proxy configured tocommunicate controller information about the network controller to oneor more network elements in the network using IGP. The method, via theIGP proxy of the network controller, establishes an IGP adjacencyrelationship between the IGP proxy of the network controller and one ormore network elements in the network. The IGP proxy of the networkcontroller advertises controller information about the networkcontroller to the one or more network elements. The method includes,detecting, using the IGP proxy of the network controller, acommunication failure within the controller cluster that splits in thecontroller cluster into a plurality of controller groups. The IGP proxyof the network controller advertises updated controller informationabout the network controller to the one or more network elements, theupdated controller information reflecting a change to the controllerinformation caused by the communication failure. The method includesdetermining that the network controller is part of an elected primarygroup of the plurality of controller groups. The IGP proxy of thenetwork controller advertises a second updated controller informationabout the network controller to the one or more network elements whenthe network controller is an intent primary controller of the electedprimary group. The second updated controller information indicating thatthe network controller is the current active primary network controllerof the network.

Optionally, in a first implementation according to the any of thepreceding aspects, determining whether the primary network controllerhas failed includes using a link state database (LSDB) in the IGP proxyto determine whether the IGP proxy of the primary controller isadvertising the controller information to the one or more networkelements in the network.

Optionally, in a second implementation according to the any of thepreceding aspects or implementation thereof, the IGP adjacencyrelationship between the IGP proxy of the network controller and one ormore network elements in the network is established over a controlchannel.

Optionally, in a third implementation according to the any of thepreceding aspects or implementation thereof, the controller informationis included in a Controllers Type/Length/Value (TLV).

Optionally, in a fourth implementation according to the any of thepreceding aspects or implementation thereof, the Controllers TLV isincluded in one of an Open Shortest Path First Version 2 (OSPFv2) RouterInformational (RI) Opaque Link-State Advertisement (LSA), OSPFv3 RIOpaque LSA, or an Intermediate System to Intermediate System (IS-IS)Link State Protocol Data Unit (LSP).

Optionally, in a fifth implementation according to the any of thepreceding aspects or implementation thereof, the Controllers TLVincludes a bit field and a position field, the bit field when setindicates that a position indicated in the position field is theposition of a current active primary controller.

Optionally, in a sixth implementation according to the any of thepreceding aspects or implementation thereof, the Controllers TLVincludes a number of controllers' field that indicates a number ofcontrollers connected to the network controller advertising theControllers TLV.

Optionally, in a seventh implementation according to the any of thepreceding aspects or implementation thereof, the Controllers TLVincludes an old position field that indicates a position of the networkcontroller in the controller cluster prior to the controller clusterbeing split.

Optionally, in an eighth implementation according to the any of thepreceding aspects or implementation thereof, the Controllers TLVincludes a priority field that indicates a priority of the networkcontroller to be elected as a primary network controller.

Optionally, in a ninth implementation according to the any of thepreceding aspects or implementation thereof, the Controllers TLVincludes Controller Identifier (ID) field that includes the controllerID of all controllers in the controller cluster.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of this disclosure, reference is nowmade to the following brief description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings and detailed description, wherein like referencenumerals represent like parts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a software-defined networkcontrolled by a controller cluster that includes two network controllersin accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a schematic drawing illustrating a software-defined networkcontrolled by a controller cluster that includes more than two networkcontrollers in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a software-defined networkcontrolled by a controller cluster that includes two network controllersand implements Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) with extensions forproviding network reliability in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing illustrating a software-defined networkcontrolled by a controller cluster that includes more than two networkcontrollers and implements IGP with extensions for providing networkreliability in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a Controllers Type/Length/Value (TLV) in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6A is an example of a Controllers TLV in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6B is an example of a Controllers TLV in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is an Open Shortest Path First Version 2 (OSPFv2) RouterInformational (RI) Opaque link-state advertisement (LSA) in accordancewith an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is an Open Shortest Path First Version 3 (OSPFv3) RI Opaque LSAin accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a Controllers TLV in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 10A is an example of a Controllers TLV in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10B is an example of a Controllers TLV in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure

FIG. 11 is an Intermediate System to Intermediate System (IS-IS or ISIS)Link State Protocol Data Unit (LSP) according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 12A is a flowchart illustrating a process performed by a primarycontroller for providing network reliability in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12B is a flowchart illustrating a process performed by a secondarycontroller for providing network reliability in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 13 is an example of a Controllers TLV in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 is an example of a Controllers TLV in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 15 is an example of a Controllers TLV in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 16 is an example of a Controllers TLV in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 17 is an example of a Controllers TLV in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 18 is an example of a Controllers TLV in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a process performed by a controllerfor providing network reliability in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 20A is an example of a Controllers TLV in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 20B is an example of a Controllers TLV in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 21A is an example of a Controllers TLV in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 21B is an example of a Controllers TLV in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 22A is an example of a Controllers TLV in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 22B is an example of a Controllers TLV in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 23A is an example of a Controllers TLV in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 23B is an example of a Controllers TLV in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 24 is an example of a Controllers TLV in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 25 is an example of a Controllers TLV in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 26 is an example of a Controllers TLV in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 27 is an example of a Controllers TLV in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 28 is an example of a Controllers TLV in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 29 is an example of a Controllers TLV in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 30 is an example of a Controllers TLV in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 31 is an example of a Controllers TLV in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 32 is a schematic diagram illustrating a network element accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It should be understood at the outset that although an illustrativeimplementation of one or more embodiments are provided below, thedisclosed systems and/or methods may be implemented using any number oftechniques, whether currently known or in existence. The disclosureshould in no way be limited to the illustrative implementations,drawings, and techniques illustrated below, including the exemplarydesigns and implementations illustrated and described herein, but may bemodified within the scope of the appended claims along with their fullscope of equivalents.

In a software defined network (SDN), every network element (NE) in thenetwork is controlled by a controller cluster, which normally consistsof two or more controllers working together to control the network(i.e., the network elements). For controller clusters that include onlytwo controllers (i.e., primary and secondary controller), a connectionfailure between the two controllers may result in having two separatedcontrollers attempting to operate as a primary controller. For instance,upon detecting the connection failure, the secondary controller thinksthat the primary controller is dead and promotes itself as the newprimary controller. This can result in two primary controllers in thecontrol cluster when the primary controller is not dead, which canresult in network reliability issues. For the controller cluster thatincludes more than two controllers (i.e., primary controller, secondarycontroller, third controller, and so on), one or more connection and/orcontroller failures in the cluster may split the cluster into a numberof separated controller groups. Due to the connection failures, thesegroups are unaware of each other, do not know which group should beelected as the one primary group to control the network. This can resultin two or more groups being elected as the primary group to control thenetwork, which can also result in network reliability issues.

To address the above issues, and other issues, the present disclosuredescribes various systems and methods for providing network reliabilityby enabling separated controllers or controller groups to still be ableto communicate so that they have knowledge of each other through the useof Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) with new extensions. IGP is a type ofprotocol used for exchanging routing information between gateways(commonly routers) within an autonomous system (AS). This routinginformation can then be used to route network-layer protocols likeInternet Protocol (IP) packets. An AS is a collection of connected IProuting prefixes under the control of one or more network operators onbehalf of a single administrative entity or domain that presents acommon, clearly defined routing policy to the internet (for example, asystem of corporate local area networks). There are different types ofIGP. Type 1 IGP is referred to as a link-state routing protocol. Thelink-state routing protocol is performed by every switching node in thenetwork (i.e., nodes that are prepared to forward packets; in theInternet, these are called routers). The basic concept of link-staterouting is that every node constructs a map of the connectivity to thenetwork, in the form of a graph, showing which nodes are connected towhich other nodes. Each node then independently calculates the bestlogical path or the best next hop interface from it to every possibledestination in the network. Each collection of best paths will then formeach node's routing table.

Examples of link-state routing protocols (or Type 1 IGP) include OSPFrouting protocol and IS-IS. OSPF uses Link State Advertisement (LSA) toexchange routing information between routers. Each router within an areawill flood a type 1 LSA (also called router LSA) within the area. LSA'sare encapsulated behind an OPSF packet and then an IP packet. An area isa logical group of OSPF-based networks, routers, and links that have thesame area number. Routers that belong to the same area keep atopological database for the entire area. The router LSA containsinformation about directly connected links in the area to which therouter belongs (e.g., a list with all the directly connected links ofthis router). They are flooded to all routers in that area. When therouter is an ABR (Area Border Router), it generates type 1 LSAs for allthe areas to which it is connected and sends those LSAs to all neighborsin corresponding areas. OSPF has been modified since the first version.The two most common versions in use are OSPF Version 2 (OSPFv2) and OSPFVersion 3 (OSPFv3). OSPFv2 is the version for the fourth version of theInternet Protocol (IPv4), whereas OSPFv3 is the version for IPv6.

IS-IS uses Link State Protocol Data Unit (LSP) to exchange routinginformation between routers. LSP is a packet of information generated bya network router in a link state routing protocol that lists therouter's neighbors (i.e., local link-state information describingconnected links, neighbor routers, IP subnets, related metricinformation, and so forth). Copies of the LSP are distributed to allrouters in a specific area through a process referred to as flooding.Ultimately, all routers in an area obtain every other router's LSP andsynchronize their databases.

As stated above, the present disclosure describes various systems andmethods for providing network reliability by enabling separatedcontrollers or controller groups to communicate through the use of IGPwith new extensions so that they have knowledge of each other. In anembodiment, every controller in a controller cluster uses an IGP (OSPFor IS-IS) as a proxy, which connects to one or more network elementsrunning the IGP. Each controller advertises that it is a controlleralong with other information such as, but not limited to, its positionand the number of controllers (including itself) in its group by usingthe IGP extensions. The disclosed embodiments enable correct election ofa new primary controller or controller group when the controller clusteris split due to one or more failures within the cluster. As a result,the disclosed embodiments improve the reliability of controller clusterand the reliability of the SDN.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a software-defined network(SDN) 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.The SDN 100 includes a network 120 comprising a plurality of networkelements (devices) including network elements 122 and one or morenetwork provider edge (PE) devices (e.g., PE1-PE5). The network elements122 may be, but not limited to, network routers or switches that enablethe forwarding of data packets. For example, a tunnel/path can beconfigured between network ingress router PE1 to network egress routerPE4 for transporting data packets through the network 120. In anembodiment, the network 120 is controlled by a controller cluster 110that includes two network controllers, Controller A 102 and Controller B106. In the depicted embodiment, Controller A 102 is set as the primarycontroller and Controller B 106 is set as a secondary (backup)controller. Controller A 102 provides the control logic over controlchannels to the network elements for enabling the provisioning andmanagement of network resources within the network 120. By extricatingthe control logic to Controller A 102 in the controller cluster 110, thenetwork elements 122 become simple forwarding devices.

As shown in FIG. 1 , during normal operations (i.e., no network failuresincluding failures in controller cluster), the primary controller,Controller A 102, controls the network 120 (i.e., every network element)by communicating information through the control channels to the networkelements. The Controller A 102 may store status information in a statusdatabase (SDB) 104. Similarly, Controller B may store status informationin a SDB 108. As an example, in an embodiment, when the Controller A 102sends instructions to one or more of the network elements through thecontrol channels, the Controller A 102 stores the status about theinstructions in its SDB 104. The Controller A 102 then synchronizes thestatus information in SDB 104 with the secondary controller, ControllerB 106, by a connection 112 between the primary Controller A 102 andsecondary Controller B 106. The secondary Controller B 106 can updateits SDB 108 with the received status information, but does not send anyinstructions to the network elements when it is not the primarycontroller.

Currently, when the connection 112 between Controller A 102 andController B 106 fails, Controller B 106 is not able to determinewhether the primary Controller A 102 is really dead (i.e., notfunctioning) or if it is just the connection 112 between Controller A102 and Controller B 106 that has failed. When the secondary ControllerB 106 suspects that the primary Controller A 102 has failed, thesecondary Controller B 106 promotes itself to be the new primarycontroller and controls the network 120. Controller B 106 acting as theprimary controller starts to send instructions to the network elementsthrough the control channels between it and the network elements.Controller B 106 stores the status about the instructions into its SDN108. However, when Controller A 102 has not failed (i.e., only theconnection between Controller A 102 and Controller B 106 has failed),the network 120 may experience issues due to both Controller A 102 andController B 106 acting as the primary controller and sendinginstructions to control the network 120.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a SDN 200 in accordance withan embodiment of the present disclosure. The SDN 200 is similar to theSDN 100 in FIG. 1 , except that the network 120 is controlled by acontroller cluster 210 that includes more than two controllers. Forexample, the controller cluster 210 can include a primary Controller A202, a secondary Controller B 204, a third controller C 206, and an NthController N 208. Each of the controllers in the controller cluster 210have a direct or indirect connection or communication link with one ormore of the other controllers in the controller cluster 210 forexchanging status information or other data (e.g., for synchronizing itsstates in its SDB (not shown) with the other controllers by theconnections). During normal operation, the primary Controller A 202 sendinstructions to the network elements through the control channelsbetween the primary Controller A 202 and the network elements, and theother controllers do not send any instructions to the network elements.

Similar to the SDN 100 in FIG. 1 , when the primary Controller A 202fails, the secondary Controller B 204 promotes itself to be the newprimary controller and controls the network 120. The secondaryController B 204 starts to send instructions to the related networkelements through the control channels between the secondary Controller B204 and the network elements. The secondary Controller B 204 stores thestatus about the instructions into its SDB. The secondary Controller B204 synchronizes the states in its SDB with the other controllers, whichpromote themselves up by one position (e.g., third controller becomessecondary controller) when the primary Controller A 202 fails.

In contrast to the SDN 100 in FIG. 1 , when multiple failures occur inthe controller cluster 210 at the same time, or exist at the same time,the controller cluster 210 may be split into a few separated groups ofcontrollers. For example, when the link between Controller A 202 andController B 204, the link between Controller A 202 and Controller N208, and Controller C 206 all concurrently fail, the controller cluster210 would split into at least two groups, group 1 comprising ControllerA 202, and group 2 comprising Controller B 204 and Controller N 208. Inan embodiment, the group with the maximum number of controllers (in thiscase group 2 with Controller B 204 and Controller N 208) is responsiblefor controlling the network as the primary group of the controllers forthe controller cluster 210. The controllers in the primary group willassign a new primary controller, secondary controller, and so on for thenetwork 120 based on the positions of the controllers in the primarygroup (e.g., Controller B becomes the new primary controller andController N 208 becomes controller N−1). However, as it currentlystands, a separated group of controllers cannot determine whether it hasthe maximum number of controllers because it does not have anyinformation about the other separated groups. Thus, more than one groupof controllers may end up assigning a new primary controller for thenetwork 120, each instructing the network elements and thereby, creatingnetwork reliability issues.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a SDN 300 in accordance withan embodiment of the present disclosure. The SDN 300 is similar to theSDN 100 in FIG. 1 . As stated above, Controller B 306 cannot currentlydetermine whether the primary Controller A 302 has failed or if it isjust the connection 316 between Controller A 302 and Controller B 306that has failed. This can result in both the Controller B 306 becomingthe primary controller while Controller A 302 is also the primarycontroller. To address this issue, each controller, Controller A 302 andController B 306, uses an IGP (OSPF or IS-IS) as an information proxy(referred to herein as IGP information proxy or IGP proxy for short).For example, the Controller A 302 includes an IGP proxy 312, and theController B 306 includes an IGP proxy 314. The IGP proxy 312 is amodule (software, hardware, or a combination thereof) configured to useIGP with the new extensions as disclosed herein (e.g., a controller TLVfor OSPF disclosed in FIG. 5 or a controller TLV for IS-IS disclosed inFIG. 9 ) to communicate information about the controller directly orindirectly to network elements and other controllers. In an embodiment,each IGP proxy in a controller establishes an IGP adjacency relation orrelationship with one or more network elements in the network 120. Anadjacency relation or relationship is a virtual link or connectionbetween two nodes that is maintained in a link state database on thenodes. Adjacencies are formed for the purpose of exchanging routinginformation. In some embodiments, each IGP proxy in a controllerestablishes an IGP adjacency relationship with all of the networkelements in the network 120. In an embodiment, the IGP proxy establishesand maintains the adjacency relationship over the control channelbetween the controller and the network elements. In other embodiments,the IGP proxy establishes and maintains the adjacency relationship overa connection other than the control channel between the controller andthe network elements such as, but not limited to, a link between thecontroller and the network elements. In an embodiment, when oneadjacency relation is broken, a new adjacency relation is created andmaintained when possible. The given number of adjacency relations isretained (i.e., not changed) by the IGP proxy.

In an embodiment, each IGP proxy of a controller in the controllercluster 310 communicates information about the controller to the networkelements using new IGP with extensions. In an embodiment, theinformation about the controller is included in a new controllers TLV.In an embodiment, the controllers TLV is included in a RI LSA or in aLSP advertised by the controller. Each IGP proxy of the controllers inthe controller cluster 310 can maintain a link state database (LSDB)that can be used to determine whether the other controller is stillconnected to one or more network elements. For example, the IGP proxy314 of the Controller B 306 can check its LSDB to determine whether theprimary Controller A 302 is still connected to one or more networkelements of the network 120. When the primary Controller A 302 is notconnected to one or more network elements, then it indicates that theprimary Controller A 302 has failed. The Controller B 306 can thensafely become the primary controller in the controller cluster 310without creating any network issues from having two primary controllers.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a SDN 400 in accordance withan embodiment of the present disclosure. The SDN 400 is similar to theSDN 200 in FIG. 2 , except that each controller in the controllercluster 410 includes an IGP proxy as disclosed herein. For example,primary Controller A 402 includes IGP proxy 412, secondary Controller B404 includes IGP proxy 414, third controller C 406 includes IGP proxy416, and Nth Controller N 408 includes IGP proxy 418. In an embodiment,each IGP proxy of a controller in the controller cluster 410 establishesand maintains an IGP adjacency relation with each of the networkelements in the network 120. In an embodiment, the IGP proxy adjacencyrelation is established and maintained over a control channel betweenthe controller and the network elements. In another embodiment, the IGPproxy adjacency relation is established and maintained over a connectionother than the control channel between the controller and the networkelements such as, but not limited to, a link between the controller andthe network elements. In an embodiment, when one adjacency relation isbroken between an IGP proxy and a network element, the IGP proxy createsand maintains, when possible, a new adjacency relation with the networkelement. In an embodiment, the given number of adjacency relations isretained. The network elements provide an indirect connection betweenthe controllers in the controller cluster 410 for the exchanging ofcontroller and/or controller group information using new IGP withextensions.

FIG. 5 is a Controllers TLV 500 in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure. In an embodiment, the Controllers TLV 500 is aprotocol extension to Open Shortest Path First (OSPF). In an embodiment,when OSPF acts as a proxy of a controller in a cluster, the IGP proxyadvertises the information about the controller such as the number ofcontrollers connected to the advertising controller (including itself)in its RI LSA (e.g., as described in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 ) using theControllers TLV 500.

In the depicted embodiment, the Controllers TLV 500 includes a Typefield 502, a Length field 504, a Flags field 506, a C-bit field 508, aPosition field 510, a NoControllers field 512, a OldPosition field 514,a Reserved field 516, a Priority field 518, and Controller ID field 520.The Type field 502 is 16 bits for specifying a type value that indicatesthat the data format is a Controllers TLV 500. The value of the Typefield 502 is to be assigned by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority(IANA). The Length field 504 is also 16 bits. The Length field 504indicates the length of the value or payload portion of the ControllersTLV 500 in octets (i.e., the size of the Controllers TLV 500 excludingthe Type field 502 and Length field 504). The Flags field 506 is 8 bitsand includes the C-bit field 508. The Flags field 506 can be used toindicate one or more flags (to be determined). The C-bit field 508 isset to a first value (e.g., 1) to indicate that the advertisingcontroller (i.e., the controller advertising the link state information)is the current active primary controller. The Position field 510 is 8bits. The Position field 510 indicates the current or intended relativeposition of the controller within the controller cluster or grouprelative to other controllers within that controller cluster or group.For instance, a position value of 1 in the Position Field 510 indicatesthat the controller is a primary (first) controller in the controllercluster relative to the other controllers in the controller cluster, aposition value of 2 indicates that the controller is a secondarycontroller relative to the other controllers in the controller cluster,and so on (i.e., Controller Position of value n indicates nth controllerin the cluster or group). For example, when the C-bit field 508 is setto 1 (C=1) and the position in the Position Field 510 is set to 1(Position=1), the controller is the current active primary controllercontrolling the network. The NoControllers field 512 is 8 bits. TheNoControllers field 512 indicates the number of controllers connected tothe controller that advertised the Controllers TLV 500. The OldPositionfield 514 is 8 bits. The OldPosition field 514 indicates the oldposition of the controller in the controller cluster prior to thecontroller cluster being split. The Reserved field 516 is 24 bits and isreserved for future use. In an embodiment, the Reserved field 516 is setto zero for transmission and ignored for reception. The Priority field518 is 8 bits. The Priority field 518 indicates the priority of thecontroller relative to other controllers in the cluster or group, whichdetermines which controller will be promoted to the active primarycontroller upon a failure of the current active primary controller. Thevalue of the Priority field 518 can be configured by a network engineeror systems administrator. In an embodiment, a controller with thepriority of zero cannot be selected as a primary controller, and acontroller with the priority of the highest value in a cluster or groupis selected as a primary controller. The Controller ID field 520 ismultiple 32 bits. The Controller ID field 520 contains the identifier(ID) of controller i at position i (i=1, n) in the cluster or group andeach ID is 32 bits.

FIG. 6A is an example of a Controllers TLV 600A in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The Controllers TLV 600A depictsan example of the Controllers TLV 500 for a controller cluster havingtwo controllers such as depicted in FIG. 3 . Specifically, theControllers TLV 600A depicts the controller information of the primarycontroller (e.g., Controller A 302 in FIG. 3 ) in a controller clusterhaving two controllers during normal operations. As stated above, theControllers TLV 600A when included in a RI LSA (e.g., as described inFIG. 7 and FIG. 8 ) advertises the information about the controller suchas the number of controllers connected to the advertising controller(including itself).

In the depicted embodiment, the Controllers TLV 600A includes a Typefield 602A, a Length field 604A, a Flags field 606A, a C-bit field 608A,a Position field 610A, a NoControllers field 612A, a OldPosition field614A, a Reserved field 616A, a Priority field 618A, and Controller IDfield 620A. As stated above, the Type field 602A is 16 bits and stores avalue (to be determined) that indicates that the data format is aControllers TLV. The Length field 604A is 16 to indicate the length ofthe value portion of the Controllers TLV 600A in octets. The Flags field606A is 8 bits and includes the C-bit field 608A. In the depictedembodiment, the C-bit field 608A is set to 1 to indicate that theadvertising controller (i.e., the controller advertising the link stateinformation) is the current active primary controller. The Positionfield 610A is set to 1 to indicate that the controller advertising theLSA (i.e., Controller A 302 in FIG. 3 ) is currently in the firstposition in the controller cluster or group. In the depicted embodiment,the NoControllers field 612A is set to 2 to indicate that there are onlytwo controllers (including itself) connected to the controlleradvertising the Controllers TLV 600A. The OldPosition field 614A is setto 1 to indicate the old position of the controller in the controllercluster prior to the controller cluster being split (e.g., when theconnection 316 between Controller A 302 and Controller B 306 in FIG. 3fails). In an embodiment, the Reserved field 616A is set to zero fortransmission and ignored for reception. The Priority field 618Aindicates the priority of the controller to be elected as a primarycontroller. The Controller ID field 620A contains the controller IDs ofthe two controllers in the controller cluster or group (i.e., ControllerA's ID and Controller B's ID).

FIG. 6B is an example of a Controllers TLV 600B in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The Controllers TLV 600B depictsthe controller information of the secondary controller (e.g., ControllerB 306 in FIG. 3 ) in a controller cluster having two controllers duringnormal operations. The Controllers TLV 600B when included in a RI LSA(e.g., as described in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 ) advertises the informationabout the controller such as the number of controllers connected to theadvertising controller (including itself).

In the depicted embodiment, the Controllers TLV 600B includes a Typefield 602B, a Length field 604B, a Flags field 606B, a C-bit field 608B,a Position field 610B, a NoControllers field 612B, a OldPosition field614B, a Reserved field 616B, a Priority field 618B, and Controller IDfield 620B. As stated above, the Type field 602B is 16 bits and stores avalue (TBD) that indicates that the data format is a Controllers TLV.The Length field 604B is 16 to indicate the length of the value portionof the Controllers TLV 600B in octets. The Flags field 606B is 8 bitsand includes the C-bit field 608B. In the depicted embodiment, the C-bitfield 608B is set to 0 to indicate that the advertising controller isnot the current active primary controller. The Position field 610B isset to 2 to indicate that the controller advertising the LSA (i.e.,Controller B 306 in FIG. 3 ) is currently in the second position in thecontroller cluster or group. The NoControllers field 612B is set to 2 toindicate that there are only two controllers (including itself)connected to the controller advertising the Controllers TLV 600B. TheOldPosition field 614B is set to 2 to indicate the old position of thecontroller in the controller cluster prior to the controller clusterbeing split (e.g., when the connection 316 between Controller A 302 andController B 306 in FIG. 3 fails). In an embodiment, the Reserved field616B is set to zero for transmission and ignored for reception. ThePriority field 618B indicates the priority of the controller to beelected as a primary controller. The Controller ID field 620B containsthe controller IDs of the two controllers in the controller cluster orgroup (i.e., Controller A's ID and Controller B's ID).

FIG. 7 is an OSPFv2 RI Opaque LSA 700 in accordance with an embodimentof the present disclosure. In an embodiment, when information about acontroller changes (e.g., link state information, router capabilities,or when an OSPF router instance is created), the IGP proxy of acontroller (e.g., Controller A 302 and/or Controller B 306 in FIG. 3 )originates the OSPFv2 Router Information Opaque LSA 700 to advertise thenew information to the network elements.

In an embodiment, the OSPFv2 Router Information Opaque LSA 700 includesthe standard fields of an OSPFv2 Router Information Opaque LSA, whichincludes a Link State (LS) age field 702, an Options field 704, a LSType field 706, an Opaque Type field 708, an Opaque identifier (ID)field 710, an Advertising Router field 712, an LS sequence number field714, a LS checksum field 716, a Length field 718, and TLVs field 720.The LS age field 702 contains the age of the OSPFv2 Router InformationOpaque LSA 700 advertisement in seconds to enable old advertisements tobe flushed from the routing domain. The Options field 704 specifies oneor more OSPFv2 options. The Options field 704 enables OSPF routers tosupport (or not support) optional capabilities, and to communicate theircapability level to other OSPF routers. The LS Type field 706 is used toindicate the flooding scope of the OSPFv2 Router Information Opaque LSA700. For OSPFv2, type 9 (link-scoped), type 10 (area-scoped), or a type11 (AS-scoped) opaque LSA may be flooded. The Opaque Type field 708 istype 4 and the Opaque ID field 710 is a value that is used to identifyan instance of a OSPFv2 Router Information (RI) opaque LSA. TheAdvertising Router field 712 contains the router ID of the router thatoriginated the OSPFv2 Router Information Opaque LSA 700. The LS sequencenumber field 714 contains successive sequence numbers used to detect oldor duplicate LSAs. The LS checksum field 716 contains a checksum of thecomplete contents of the OSPFv2 Router Information Opaque LSA 700,excluding the LS age field 702. The Length field 718 represents thetotal length (in octets) of the OSPFv2 Router Information Opaque LSA700. The TLVs field 720 contains one or more TLVs including one or morecontroller TLVs such as Controllers TLV 500 in FIG. 5 . As stated above,the Controllers TLVs, using IGP for transport, enable a controller in acontrol cluster to share information about the controller with othercontrollers connected to the controller. The information may include,for example, the number of controllers connected to the advertisingcontroller.

FIG. 8 is an OSPFv3 RI Opaque LSA 800 in accordance with an embodimentof the present disclosure. Similar to the OSPFv2 RI Opaque LSA 700 ofFIG. 7 , when information about a controller changes (e.g., link stateinformation, router capabilities, or when an OSPF router instance iscreated), the IGP proxy of a controller originates the OSPFv3 RouterInformation Opaque LSA 800 to advertise the new information to thenetwork elements.

In the depicted embodiment, the OSPFv3 Router Information Opaque LSA 800includes a Link State (LS) age field 802, a U bit field 804, a S1/S2field 806, a function field 808, a Link State ID (Instance ID) field810, an Advertising Router field 812, an LS sequence number field 814, aLS checksum field 816, a Length field 818, and TLVs field 820. The LSage field 802 contains the age of the OSPFv3 Router Information OpaqueLSA 800 advertisement in seconds to enable old advertisements to beflushed from the routing domain. The U bit field 804 is used to indicatehow a router should handle unknown LSA. In the depicted embodiment, theU bit field 804 has a value of 1 to indicate that the OSPFv3 RouterInformation Opaque LSA 800 should be flooded even when the OSPFv3 RouterInformation Opaque LSA 800 is not understood by the router (i.e., storedand flooded as if the OSPFv3 Router Information Opaque LSA 800 wasunderstood). When the U bit is cleared or set to 0, the unknown LSA isto be treated as if the OSPFv3 Router Information Opaque LSA 800 hadlink-local flooding scope. The S1/S2 field 806 indicates the desiredflooding scope for the OSPFv3 Router Information Opaque LSA 800. Forexample, when both S1 and S2 are 0, the flooding scope is link-local;when S1 is 1 and S2 is 0, the flooding scope is area flooding; and whenS1 is 0 and S2 is 1, the flooding scope is Autonomous System/RoutingDomain. The function field 808 indicates the LSA type. In the depictedembodiment, a value of 12 as assigned by IANA indicates that the LSA isan OSPFv3 RI LSA. The Link State ID field 810 indicates the Instance ID.The Instance ID enables multiple instances of OSPFv3 RI LSAs. TheAdvertising Router field 812 contains the router ID of the router thatoriginated the OSPFv3 Router Information Opaque LSA 800. The LS sequencenumber field 814 contains successive sequence numbers used to detect oldor duplicate LSAs. The LS checksum field 816 contains a checksum of thecomplete contents of the OSPFv3 Router Information Opaque LSA 800,excluding the LS age field 802. The Length field 818 represents thetotal length (in octets) of the OSPFv3 Router Information Opaque LSA800. The TLVs field 820 contains one or more TLVs including one or morecontroller TLVs such as Controllers TLV 500 in FIG. 5 .

FIG. 9 is a Controllers TLV 900 in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure. In an embodiment, the Controllers TLV 900 is aprotocol extension to IS-IS. In an embodiment, when IS-IS acts as aproxy of a controller in a cluster, the IGP proxy advertises, in an LSPusing the Controllers TLV 900, the information about the controller suchas the number of controllers connected to the controller (includingitself).

In the depicted embodiment, the Controllers TLV 900 includes a Typefield 902, a Length field 904, a Flags field 906, a C-bit field 908, aPosition field 910, a NoControllers field 912, a OldPosition field 914,a Priority field 916, a Reserved field 918, and Controller ID field 920.The Type field 902 is 8 bits for specifying a type value that indicatesthat the data format is a Controllers TLV 900. The value of the Typefield 902 is to be assigned by the IANA. The Length field 904 is 8 bits.The Length field 904 indicates the length of the value portion inoctets. The Flags field 906 is 8 bits and includes the C-bit field 908.The Flags field 906 can be used to indicate one or more flags (to bedetermined). The C-bit field 908 is set to 1 to indicate that thecontroller is the current active primary controller. The Position field910 is set to 1 to indicate the current or intended relative position ofthe controller within the controller cluster or group (e.g., 1=primary,2=secondary, etc.). The NoControllers field 912 indicates the number ofcontrollers connected to the controller advertising the Controllers TLV900. The OldPosition field 914 is 8 bits. The OldPosition field 914indicates the old position of the controller in the controller clusterprior to the controller cluster being split. The Priority field 916 is 8bits. The Priority field 916 indicates the priority of the controller tobe elected as a primary controller. The Reserved field 918 is 8 bits andis reserved for future use. In an embodiment, the Reserved field 918 isset to zero for transmission and ignored for reception. The ControllerID field 920 is multiple 32 bits. The Controller ID field 920 containsthe identifier (ID) of controller i at position i (i=1, . . . , n) inthe cluster or group.

FIG. 10A is an example of a Controllers TLV 1000A in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The Controllers TLV 1000A depictsan example of the Controllers TLV 900 for a controller cluster havingtwo controllers such as depicted in FIG. 9 . Specifically, theControllers TLV 1000A depicts the controller information of the primarycontroller (e.g., Controller A 302 in FIG. 3 ) in a controller clusterhaving two controllers during normal operations. The Controllers TLV1000A when included in a LSP advertises the information about thecontroller such as the number of controllers connected to the controller(including itself).

The Controllers TLV 1000A includes a Type field 1002A, a Length field1004A, a Flags field 1006A, a C-bit field 1008A, a Position field 1010A,a NoControllers field 1012A, a OldPosition field 1014A, a Priority field1016A, a Reserved field 1018A, and Controller ID field 1020A. The Typefield 1002A specifies a type value (TBD) that indicates the data formatis a Controllers TLV. The Length field 1004A is 14 to indicate thelength of the value portion in octets. The Flags field 1006A can be usedto indicate one or more flags. The C-bit field 1008A is set to 1 toindicate that the advertising controller is the current active primarycontroller. The Position field 1010A is set to 1 to indicate the currentor intended relative position of the controller within the controllercluster or group (e.g., 1=primary, 2=secondary, etc.). The NoControllersfield 1012A is set to 2 to indicate the number of controllers connectedto the controller that advertised the Controllers TLV 1000A (includingitself). The OldPosition field 1014A is set to 1 to indicate the oldposition of the controller in the controller cluster prior to thecontroller cluster being split. The Priority field 1016A indicates thepriority of the controller to be elected as a primary controller. TheReserved field 1018A is set to zero for transmission and ignored forreception. The Controller ID field 1020A contains the controller ID ofthe two controllers in the controller cluster or group (i.e., ControllerA's ID and Controller B's ID).

FIG. 10B is an example of a Controllers TLV 1000B in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The Controllers TLV 1000B depictsan example of the Controllers TLV 900 for a controller cluster havingtwo controllers such as depicted in FIG. 9 . Specifically, theControllers TLV 1000B depicts the controller information of thesecondary controller (e.g., Controller B 306 in FIG. 3 ) in a controllercluster having two controllers during normal operations. The ControllersTLV 1000B when included in a LSP advertises the information about thecontroller such as the number of controllers connected to the controller(including itself).

The Controllers TLV 1000B includes a Type field 1002B, a Length field1004B, a Flags field 1006B, a C-bit field 1008B, a Position field 1010B,a NoControllers field 1012B, a OldPosition field 1014B, a Priority field1016B, a Reserved field 1018B, and Controller ID field 1020B. The Typefield 1002B specifies a type value (TBD) that indicates the data formatis a Controllers TLV. The Length field 1004B is 14 to indicate thelength of the value portion in octets. The Flags field 1006B can be usedto indicate one or more flags. The C-bit field 1008B is set to 0 toindicate that the advertising controller is not the current activeprimary controller. The Position field 1010B is set to 2 to indicatethat the controller advertising the LSA (i.e., Controller A 302 in FIG.3 ) is currently in the second position in the controller cluster orgroup. The NoControllers field 1012B is set to 2 to indicate the numberof controllers connected to the controller advertising the ControllersTLV 1000B (including itself). The OldPosition field 1014B is set to 2 toindicate the old position of the controller in the controller clusterprior to the controller cluster being split (e.g., when the connection316 between Controller A 302 and Controller B 306 in FIG. 3 fails). ThePriority field 1016B indicates the priority of the controller to beelected as a primary controller. The Reserved field 1018B is set to zerofor transmission and ignored for reception. The Controller ID field1020B contains the controller IDs of the two controllers in thecontroller cluster or group (i.e., Controller A's ID and Controller B'sID).

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating an IS-IS LSP 1100 accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure. In an embodiment, wheninformation about a controller changes (e.g., link state information,router capabilities, or when an IS-IS router instance is created), theIGP proxy of a controller (e.g., Controller A 302 and/or Controller B306 in FIG. 3 ) originates the IS-IS LSP 1100 to advertise the newinformation to the network elements.

In the depicted embodiment, the IS-IS LSP 1100 includes an IntradomainRouting Protocol Discriminator (IRPD) field 1102, a Length Indicatorfield 1104, a Version/Protocol ID Extension field 1106, an ID Lengthfield 1108, a protocol data unit (PDU) Type field 1110, a Version field1112, a Reserved field 1120, a Maximum Area Addresses field 1122, a PDULength field 1124, a Remaining Lifetime field 1126, a LSP ID field 1128,a Sequence Number field 1130, a Checksum field 1132, a Partition (P)field 1134, an Attached (ATT) field 1136, an overload (OL) field 1138,an IS type field 1140, and a Type-Length-Value (TLV) fields 1144. TheIS-IS LSP 1100 includes three reserved (R) bits R bit 1105, R bit 1107,and R bit 1109.

The IRPD field 1102 contains the network-layer identifier assigned toIS-IS in ISO 9577; its binary value is 10000011 (0x83). The LengthIndicator field 1104 specifies the length of the fixed header fields(i.e., length of IS-IS LSP 1100 excluding the TLV fields 1144) inoctets. The Version/Protocol ID Extension field 1106 currently has valueof one (1). The ID Length field 1108 specifies the length of the systemID field. The system ID field stores the system ID of the IntermediateSystem (IS) that generated the LSP. The system ID field is part of theNetwork Entity Title (NET) address (not depicted) of a Network ServiceAccess Point (NSAP), which identifies an instance of the IS-IS routingprotocol running on an IS. The ID Length field 1108 is the same for allnodes in the domain. The PDU Type field 1110 contains the PDU TypeNumber indicating the type of PDU (e.g., decimal values 18 and 20 forLevel 1 and Level 2 LSPs, respectively). The Version field 1112 containsthe version of the PDU. The Reserved field 1120 contains reserved bitsthat are transmitted as zero, and ignored on receipt. The Maximum AreaAddresses field 1122 indicates the number of area addresses permittedfor an IS area. A routing domain may be divided into one or moresubdomains. Each subdomain is referred to as an area. The PDU Lengthfield 1124 indicates the length of the entire PDU, fixed header, andTLVs. The Remaining Lifetime field 1126 indicates the time in secondsbefore the IS-IS LSP 1100 expires. The LSP ID field 1128 includes ofthree components: system ID, pseudonode ID, and LSP fragmentationnumber. The Sequence Number field 1130 contains successive sequencenumbers used to detect old or duplicate LSPs. The Checksum field 1132indicates the checksum of the contents of the IS-IS LSP 1100. The Pfield 1134 is set to indicate that the originator of the IS-IS LSP 1100supports partition repair. The ATT field 1136 is set to indicate thatthe originator is attached to another area using the referred metricindicated in the ATT field 1136. The OL field 1138 is set to indicatethat the originator's LSP database is overloaded and should becircumvented in path calculations to other destinations. The IS typefield 1140 indicates the IS type. For example, when only bit 1 of the IStype field 1140 is set, this indicates a Level 1 IS type. When both bitsof the IS type field 1140 are set, a Level 2 IS type is indicated. TheTLV fields 1144 contains one or more TLVs including one or morecontroller TLVs such as Controllers TLV 900 in FIG. 9 . As stated above,the Controllers TLVs, using IGP for transport, enable a controller in acontrol cluster to share information about the controller with othercontrollers of a controller cluster. The information may include, forexample, the number of controllers connected to the advertisingcontroller.

FIG. 12A is a flowchart illustrating a process 1200A performed by aprimary controller for providing network reliability in accordance withan embodiment of the present disclosure. In the depicted embodiment, theprimary controller is part of a controller cluster having twocontrollers, the primary controller and a secondary controller, forcontrolling a network. The primary controller is configured to provideinstructions to one or more network elements over a control channel orother channel for controlling the network such as, but not limited to,the controlling the routing of packets. The secondary controller doesnot provide any instructions to the network elements for controlling thenetwork. The secondary controller is a backup controller in the eventthat the primary controller fails. At which point, the secondarycontroller will be promoted to the primary controller of the controllercluster and will control the network.

At step 1202, the primary controller employs an IGP proxy in thecontroller. In an embodiment, the IGP proxy is a module configured tocommunicate information regarding the primary controller and/orcontroller cluster/group to one or more network elements using IGP withextensions. At step 1204, the primary controller establishes an IGPadjacency relation or relationship with the one or more network elementsfor the purpose of exchanging routing information. In an embodiment, toestablish the IGP adjacency relationship, the IGP proxy of the primarycontroller and the one or more network elements exchange a sequence ofHello packets to establish two-way communication between the IGP proxyof the controller and the one or more network elements. The IGPadjacency relationship is then formed by synchronizing their link statedatabases.

At step 1206, the primary controller, via the IGP proxy of the primarycontroller, advertises the controller information such as, but notlimited to, the primary controller's position within the controllercluster and the number of controllers connected to the primarycontroller. For example, for OSPFv2, the primary controller advertisesan OSPFv2 RI Opaque LSA 700 that includes a Controllers TLV 600Acontaining C-bit field 608A=1, Position field 610A=1, NoControllersfield 612A=2, OldPosition field 614A=1, and Controller ID field620A=Primary Controller's ID and Secondary Controller's ID as depictedin FIG. 6A. Similarly, for OSPFv3, the primary controller advertises anOSPFv3 RI Opaque LSA 800 that includes a Controllers TLV 600A containingC-bit field 608A=1, Position field 610A=1, NoControllers field 612A=2,OldPosition field 614A=1, and Controller ID field 620A=PrimaryController's ID and Secondary Controller's ID as depicted in FIG. 6A.For IS-IS, the primary controller advertises an LSP (e.g., IS-IS LSP1100 in FIG. 11 ) that includes a Controllers TLV 1000A containing C-bitfield 1008A=1, Position field 1010A=1, NoControllers field 1012A=2,OldPosition field 1014A=1, and Controller ID field 1020A=PrimaryController's ID and Secondary Controller's ID as illustrated in FIG.10A.

At step 1208, the primary controller, via the IGP proxy of the primarycontroller, detects a communication failure with the secondarycontroller. The communication failure may be a connection failurebetween the primary and secondary controllers and/or a failure of thesecondary controller. In an embodiment, when the primary controllerdetects that the heartbeat of the secondary controller has stopped, theprimary controller determines that the connection with the secondarycontroller has failed. A heartbeat is a periodic signal generated byhardware or software of the controller to indicate normal operation toother controllers in the controller cluster.

At step 1210, the primary controller, via the IGP proxy of thecontroller, advertises updated controller information using IGP with thenew controllers TLV extensions to reflect the change in thecontroller/controller group caused by the communication failure. Forexample, in an embodiment, for OSPF, when the secondary controller orthe link to the secondary controller fails, the primary controlleradvertises an LSA (e.g., OSPFv2 RI Opaque LSA 700 in FIG. 7 or OSPFv3 RIOpaque LSA 800 in FIG. 8 ) that includes a TLV 1300 containing C-bitfield 1308=1, Position field 1313=1, NoControllers field 1312=1,OldPosition field 1314=1, and Controller ID field 1320=PrimaryController's ID as depicted in FIG. 13 . Similarly, in an embodiment,for IS-IS, when the secondary controller or the link to the secondarycontroller fails, the primary controller advertises an LSP (e.g., LSP1100 in FIG. 11 ) that includes a TLV 1500 containing C-bit field1508=1, Position field 1515=1, NoControllers field 1512=1, OldPositionfield 1514=1, and Controller ID field 1520=Primary Controller's ID asdepicted in FIG. 15 .

At step 1212, the primary controller maintains (or makes a determinationto maintain) its status/position as the primary controller of thenetwork.

FIG. 12B is a flowchart illustrating a process 1200A performed by asecondary controller for providing network reliability in accordancewith an embodiment of the present disclosure. In the depictedembodiment, the secondary controller is part of a controller clusterhaving two controllers, a primary controller and the secondarycontroller, for controlling a network. As stated above, the primarycontroller is configured to provide instructions to one or more networkelements over a control channel or other channel for controlling thenetwork such as, but not limited to, the controlling the routing ofpackets. The secondary controller does not provide any instructions tothe network elements for controlling the network. The secondarycontroller is a backup controller in the event that the primarycontroller fails. At which point, the secondary controller will bepromoted to the primary controller of the controller cluster and willcontrol the network.

At step 1222, the secondary controller employs an IGP proxy in thecontroller. In an embodiment, the IGP proxy is a module configured tocommunicate information regarding the secondary controller and/orcontroller cluster/group to one or more network elements using IGP withextensions. At step 1224, the secondary controller establishes an IGPadjacency relation or relationship with the one or more network elementsfor the purpose of exchanging routing information. In an embodiment, toestablish the IGP adjacency relationship, the IGP proxy of the secondarycontroller and the one or more network elements exchange a sequence ofHello packets to establish two-way communication between the IGP proxyof the controller and the one or more network elements. The IGPadjacency relationship is then formed by synchronizing their link statedatabases.

At step 1226, the secondary controller, via the IGP proxy of thesecondary controller, advertises the controller information such as, butnot limited to, the secondary controller's position within thecontroller cluster and the number of controllers connected to thesecondary controller. For example, for OSPFv2, the secondary controlleradvertises an OSPFv2 RI Opaque LSA 700 that includes a Controllers TLV600B containing C-bit field 608B=0, Position field 610B=2, NoControllersfield 612B=2, OldPosition field 614B=2, and Controller ID field620B=Primary Controller's ID and Secondary Controller's ID as depictedin FIG. 6B. Similarly, for OSPFv3, the secondary controller advertisesan OSPFv3 RI Opaque LSA 800 that includes a Controllers TLV 600Bcontaining C-bit field 608B=0, Position field 610B=2, NoControllersfield 612B=2, OldPosition field 614B=2, and Controller ID field620B=Primary Controller's ID and Secondary Controller's ID as depictedin FIG. 6B. For IS-IS, the secondary controller advertises an LSP (e.g.,IS-IS LSP 1100 in FIG. 11 ) that includes a Controllers TLV 1000Bcontaining C-bit field 1008B=0, Position field 1010B=2, NoControllersfield 1012B=2, OldPosition field 1014B=2, and Controller ID field1020B=Primary Controller's ID and Secondary Controller's ID asillustrated in FIG. 10B.

At step 1228, the secondary controller, via the IGP proxy of thesecondary controller, detects a communication failure with the primarycontroller. The communication failure may be a connection failurebetween the primary and secondary controllers and/or a failure of theprimary controller. In an embodiment, when the controller detects thatthe heartbeat of the primary controller has stopped, the secondarycontroller determines that the connection with the primary controllerhas failed. At this point, the secondary controller just knows that theprimary controller is not communicating with the secondary controller,but does not know whether it is a communication/link failure or whetherthe primary controller has failed.

At step 1230, the secondary controller, via the IGP proxy of thecontroller, advertises updated controller information using IGP with thenew controllers TLV extensions to reflect the change in thecontroller/controller group caused by the communication failure. Forexample, in an embodiment, for OSPF, the secondary controller advertisesan LSA (e.g., OSPFv2 RI Opaque LSA 700 in FIG. 7 or OSPFv3 RI Opaque LSA800 in FIG. 8 ) that includes a TLV 1400 containing C-bit field 1408=0,Position field 1414=1, NoControllers field 1412=1, OldPosition field1414=2, and Controller ID field 1420=Secondary Controller's ID asdepicted in FIG. 14 . Similarly, in an embodiment, for IS-IS, when theprimary controller or the link to the primary controller fails, thesecondary controller advertises an LSP (e.g., LSP 1100 in FIG. 11 ) thatincludes a TLV 1600 containing C-bit field 1608=0, Position field1616=1, NoControllers field 1612=1, OldPosition field 1614=2, andController ID field 1620=Secondary Controller's ID as depicted in FIG.16 .

At step 1232, the secondary controller determines whether the primarycontroller has failed (as opposed to just a communication/link failurebetween the primary controller and the secondary controller). In anembodiment, after a given time such as, but not limited to, 300 millisecond, the secondary controller checks the link state database (LSDB)in the IGP proxy of the secondary controller to determine whether theIGP proxy for the primary controller is connected to at least onenetwork element and is advertising its controller information (e.g.,advertising an OSPFv2 RI Opaque LSA 700 in FIG. 7 , an OSPFv3 RI OpaqueLSA 800 in FIG. 8 , or an LSP 1100 in FIG. 11 ) containing a ControllersTLV as described herein. When the primary controller is connected to atleast one network element and is advertising its controller information,the secondary controller, at step 1232, determines that the primarycontroller is alive; otherwise, the secondary controller, at step 1232,determines that the primary controller is dead.

When the secondary controller determines that primary controller isdead/failed, the secondary controller, at step 1236, via the IGP proxyof the secondary controller, advertises the LSA or LSP with aControllers TLV with updated controller information promoting thesecondary controller to the primary controller for the controllercluster. For example, when the primary controller is dead, for OSPF, thesecondary controller advertises an LSA (e.g., OSPFv2 RI Opaque LSA 700or OSPFv3 RI Opaque LSA 800) that includes a Controllers TLV 1700 whereC-bit field 1708=1, Position field 1710=1, NoControllers field 1712=1,OldPosition field 1714=2, Controller ID field 1720=Intent/New PrimaryController's ID (i.e., the secondary controller's ID) as depicted inFIG. 17 to promote the secondary controller to the primary controllerfor the controller cluster. Similarly, when the primary controller isdead, for IS-IS, the secondary controller advertises an LSP (e.g., FIG.11 ) that includes the Controllers TLV 1800 where C-bit field 1808=1,Position field 1810=1, NoControllers field 1812=1, OldPosition field1814=2, Controller ID field 1820=Intent/Primary Controller's ID asdepicted in FIG. 18 to promote the secondary controller to the primarycontroller for the controller cluster.

When the secondary controller determines that primary controller is notdead, the secondary controller, at step 1234, maintains its status asthe secondary/backup controller for the controller cluster.

FIG. 13 is an example of a Controllers TLV 1300 in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The Controllers TLV 1300 depictsan example of the Controllers TLV 500 for a controller cluster havingtwo controllers such as depicted in FIG. 3 . Specifically, theControllers TLV 1300 depicts the controller information of the primarycontroller (e.g., Controller A 302 in FIG. 3 ) in a controller clusterhaving two controllers when the secondary controller or the link to thesecondary controller fails. As stated above, the Controllers TLV 1300when included in a RI LSA (e.g., as described in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 )advertises the information about the controller such as the number ofcontrollers connected to the advertising controller (including itself).

In the depicted embodiment, the Controllers TLV 1300 includes a Typefield 1302, a Length field 1304, a Flags field 1306, a C-bit field 1308,a Position field 1310, a NoControllers field 1312, a OldPosition field1314, a Reserved field 1316, a Priority field 1318, and Controller IDfield 1320. As stated above, the Type field 1302 is 16 bits and stores avalue (TBD) that indicates that the extension is a Controllers TLV. TheLength field 1304 is 12 to indicate the length of the value portion ofthe Controllers TLV 1300 in octets. The Flags field 1306 is 8 bits andincludes the C-bit field 1308. In the depicted embodiment, the C-bitfield 1308 is set to 1 to indicate that the position of the advertisingcontroller is the position of the current active primary controller. ThePosition field 1310 is set to 1 to indicate that the controller that isadvertising the LSA (i.e., Controller A 302 in FIG. 3 ) is currently inthe first position in the controller cluster or group, making theadvertising controller the current active primary controller of thecontroller cluster. In the depicted embodiment, the NoControllers field1312 is set to 1 to indicate that there is only one controller connectedto the controller (including itself) that is advertising controller,meaning the advertising controller has no connection with any othercontroller in the controller cluster. The OldPosition field 1314 is setto 1 to indicate the old position of the controller in the controllercluster prior to the controller cluster being split. The Reserved field1316 is set to zero for transmission and ignored for reception. ThePriority field 1318 indicates the priority of the controller to beelected as a primary controller. The Controller ID field 1320 containsthe controller ID of the only controller in the controller cluster orgroup (e.g., the ID of the primary Controller A in FIG. 3 ).

FIG. 14 is an example of a Controllers TLV 1400 in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The Controllers TLV 1400 depictsan example of the Controllers TLV 500 for a controller cluster havingtwo controllers such as depicted in FIG. 3 . Specifically, theControllers TLV 1400 depicts the controller information of the secondarycontroller (e.g., Controller B 302 in FIG. 3 ) in a controller clusterhaving two controllers. As stated above, the Controllers TLV 1400 whenincluded in a RI LSA (e.g., as described in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 )advertises the updated information about the controllers such as thenumber of controllers connected to the secondary controller (includingitself) when the primary controller or the link to the primarycontroller fails.

In the depicted embodiment, the Controllers TLV 1400 includes a Typefield 1402, a Length field 1404, a Flags field 1406, a C-bit field 1408,a Position field 1410, a NoControllers field 1412, a OldPosition field1414, a Reserved field 1416, a Priority field 1418, and Controller IDfield 1420. The Type field 1402 is 16 bits and stores a value (TBD) thatindicates that the extension is a Controllers TLV. The Length field 1404is 12 to indicate the length of the value portion of the Controllers TLV1400 in octets. The Flags field 1406 is 8 bits and includes the C-bitfield 1408. In the depicted embodiment, the C-bit field 1408 is set to 0to indicate that the position of the advertising controller is not theposition of the current active primary controller. The Position field1410 is set to 1 to indicate that the controller that is advertising theLSA (i.e., Controller B 302 in FIG. 3 ) is currently in the firstposition in the controller cluster or group. In the depicted embodiment,the NoControllers field 1412 is set to 1 to indicate that there is onlyone controller connected to the controller (including itself) that isadvertising controller, meaning the advertising controller has noconnection with any other controller in the controller cluster. TheOldPosition field 1414 is set to 2 to indicate the old position of thecontroller in the controller cluster prior to the controller clusterbeing split. The Reserved field 1416 is set to zero for transmission andignored for reception. The Priority field 1418 indicates the priority ofthe controller to be elected as a primary controller. The Controller IDfield 1420 contains the controller ID of the only controller in thecontroller cluster or group (e.g., the ID of the Controller B in FIG. 3).

FIG. 15 is an example of a Controllers TLV 1500 in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The Controllers TLV 1500 depictsan example of the Controllers TLV 900 for a controller cluster havingtwo controllers such as depicted in FIG. 3 . Specifically, theControllers TLV 1500 depicts the controller information of the primarycontroller (e.g., Controller A 302 in FIG. 3 ) in a controller clusterhaving two controllers when the secondary controller or the link to thesecondary controller fails. As stated above, the Controllers TLV 1500when included in a LSP (e.g., as described in FIG. 11 ) advertises theinformation about the controller such as the number of controllersconnected to the advertising controller (including itself).

The Controllers TLV 1500 includes a Type field 1502, a Length field1504, a Flags field 1506, a C-bit field 1508, a Position field 1510, aNoControllers field 1512, a OldPosition field 1514, a Priority field1516, a Reserved field 1518, and Controller ID field 1520. The Typefield 1502 specifies a type value (TBD) that indicates that the dataformat is a Controllers TLV. The Length field 1504 is 10 to indicate thelength of the value portion in octets. The Flags field 1506 can be usedto indicate one or more flags. The C-bit field 1508 is set to 1 toindicate that the position of the advertising controller is the positionof the current active primary controller. The Position field 1510indicates the current/intent position of the controller in thecontroller cluster or group (e.g., 1=primary, 2=secondary, etc.).Because the C-bit field 1508 is set to 1 (C=1) and Position=1, thisindicates that the controller is the current active primary controllerof the network. The NoControllers field 1512 is set to 1 to indicatethat there is only one controller connected to the controller (includingitself) that is advertising controller, meaning the advertisingcontroller has no connection with any other controller in the controllercluster. The OldPosition field 1514 is set to 1 to indicate the oldposition of the controller in the controller cluster prior to thecontroller cluster being split. The Priority field 1516 indicates thepriority of the controller to be elected as a primary controller. TheReserved field 1518 is set to zero for transmission and ignored forreception. The Controller ID field 1520 contains the controller ID ofthe only controller in the controller cluster or group (e.g., the ID ofthe primary Controller A in FIG. 3 ).

FIG. 16 is an example of a Controllers TLV 1600 in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The Controllers TLV 1600 depictsan example of the Controllers TLV 900 for a controller cluster havingtwo controllers such as depicted in FIG. 3 . Specifically, theControllers TLV 1600 depicts the controller information of the secondarycontroller (e.g., Controller B 302 in FIG. 3 ) in a controller clusterhaving two controllers. As stated above, the Controllers TLV 1600 whenincluded in a LSP (e.g., LSP 1100 in FIG. 11 ) advertises the updatedinformation about the controllers such as the number of controllersconnected to the secondary controller (including itself) when theprimary controller or the link to the primary controller fails.

The Controllers TLV 1600 includes a Type field 1602, a Length field1604, a Flags field 1606, a C-bit field 1608, a Position field 1610, aNoControllers field 1612, a OldPosition field 1614, a Priority field1616, a Reserved field 1618, and Controller ID field 1620. The Typefield 1602 specifies a type value (TBD) that indicates that the dataformat is a Controllers TLV. The Length field 1604 is 10 to indicate thelength of the value portion in octets. The Flags field 1606 can be usedto indicate one or more flags. The C-bit field 1608 is set to 0 toindicate that the position of the advertising controller is not theposition of the current active primary controller. The Position field1610 is set to 1 to indicate that the advertising controller (i.e.,Controller B 304 in FIG. 3 ) is currently in the first position in thecontroller cluster or group. The NoControllers field 1612 is set to 1 toindicate the number of controllers connected to the controller that isadvertising the Controllers TLV 1600 (including itself), meaning nocontroller is connected to the secondary controller at the moment. TheOldPosition field 1614 is set to 2 to indicate the old position of thecontroller in the controller cluster prior to the controller clusterbeing split. The Priority field 1616 indicates the priority of thecontroller to be elected as a primary controller. The Reserved field1618 is set to zero for transmission and ignored for reception. TheController ID field 1620 contains the controller ID of the onlycontroller in the controller cluster or group (e.g., the ID ofController B in FIG. 3 ).

FIG. 17 is an example of a Controllers TLV 1700 in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The Controllers TLV 1700 depictsan example of the Controllers TLV 500 for a controller cluster havingtwo controllers such as depicted in FIG. 3 . Specifically, theControllers TLV 1700 depicts the controller information of the secondarycontroller (e.g., Controller B 302 in FIG. 3 ) in a controller clusterhaving two controllers. As stated above and FIG. 12 , the ControllersTLV 1700 when included in a RI LSA (e.g., as described in FIG. 7 andFIG. 8 ) advertises the updated controller information promoting thesecondary controller to the primary controller for the controllercluster when the primary controller has failed.

In the depicted embodiment, the Controllers TLV 1700 includes a Typefield 1702, a Length field 1704, a Flags field 1706, a C-bit field 1708,a Position field 1710, a NoControllers field 1712, a OldPosition field1714, a Reserved field 1716, a Priority field 1718, and Controller IDfield 1720. The Type field 1702 is 16 bits and stores a value (TBD) thatindicates that the extension is a Controllers TLV. The Length field 1704is 12 to indicate the length of the value portion of the Controllers TLV1700 in octets. The Flags field 1706 is 8 bits and includes the C-bitfield 1708. In the depicted embodiment, the C-bit field 1708 is set to 1to indicate that the position of the advertising controller is theposition of the current active primary controller. The Position field1710 is set to 1 to indicate that the controller that is advertising theLSA (i.e., Controller B 302 in FIG. 3 ) is currently in the firstposition in the controller cluster or group. The NoControllers field1712 is set to 1 to indicate that there is only one controller connectedto the controller (including itself) that is advertising controller,meaning the advertising controller has no connection with any othercontroller in the controller cluster. The OldPosition field 1714 is setto 2 to indicate the old position of the controller in the controllercluster prior to the controller cluster being split. The Reserved field1716 is set to zero for transmission and ignored for reception. ThePriority field 1718 indicates the priority of the controller to beelected as a primary controller. The Controller ID field 1720 containsthe controller ID of the only controller in the controller cluster orgroup (i.e., the ID of the primary Controller B in FIG. 3 ).

FIG. 18 is an example of a Controllers TLV 1800 in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The Controllers TLV 1800 depictsan example of the Controllers TLV 500 for a controller cluster havingtwo controllers such as depicted in FIG. 3 . Specifically, theControllers TLV 1800 depicts the controller information of the secondarycontroller (e.g., Controller B 302 in FIG. 3 ) in a controller clusterhaving two controllers. As stated above and FIG. 12 , the ControllersTLV 1800 when included in a LSP (e.g., LSP 1100 in FIG. 11 ) advertisesthe updated controller information promoting the secondary controller tothe primary controller for the controller cluster when the primarycontroller has failed.

The Controllers TLV 1800 includes a Type field 1802, a Length field1804, a Flags field 1806, a C-bit field 1808, a Position field 1810, aNoControllers field 1812, a OldPosition field 1814, a Priority field1816, a Reserved field 1818, and Controller ID field 1820. The Typefield 1802 specifies a type value (TBD) that indicates that the dataformat is a Controllers TLV. The Length field 1804 is 10 to indicate thelength of the value portion in octets. The Flags field 1806 can be usedto indicate one or more flags. The C-bit field 1808 is set to 1 toindicate that the position of the advertising controller is the positionof the current active primary controller. The Position field 1810 is setto 1 to indicate that the advertising controller (i.e., Controller B 304in FIG. 3 ) is currently in the first position in the controller clusteror group. The NoControllers field 1812 is set to 1 to indicate thenumber of controllers connected to the controller that is advertisingthe Controllers TLV 1800 (including itself), meaning no controller isconnected to the secondary controller at the moment. The OldPositionfield 1814 is set to 2 to indicate the old position of the controller inthe controller cluster prior to the controller cluster being split. ThePriority field 1816 indicates the priority of the controller to beelected as a primary controller. The Reserved field 1818 is set to zerofor transmission and ignored for reception. The Controller ID field 1820contains the controller ID of the only controller in the controllercluster or group (e.g., the ID of the primary Controller B in FIG. 3 ).

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a process 1900 implemented by acontroller for providing network reliability in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. In the depicted embodiment, theprocess 1900 is implemented by a controller that is part of a controllercluster having more than two controllers (e.g., primary, secondary, . .. , nth controller as depicted in FIG. 4 ). As stated above, whenmultiple network failures occur, the controller cluster 410 may be splitinto one or more groups of controllers. For example, referring to FIG. 4, when the communication link between Controller A 402 and Controller B404, the communication link between Controller A 402 and Controller N408, and the communication link between Controller C 406 and ControllerN 408 all fail, then the controller cluster 410 is split into twogroups, group 1 comprising Controller A 402 and Controller C 406, andgroup 2 comprising Controller B 404 and Controller N 408. Group 1(Controller A 402 and Controller C 406) and group 2 (Controller B 404and Controller N 408) are referred to in the preceding figures.Currently, a separated group of controllers, without using the IGP proxyand Controllers TLV disclosed herein, cannot determine whether it shouldelect a new primary controller for the network 120 because the separatedgroups of controllers are unable to obtain information about the otherseparated groups. The process 1900 addresses this issue by enabling theseparated controller groups to obtain knowledge of the other separatedcontroller groups so that a proper group and controller can be electedas the new primary controller of the network.

The process 1900 begins, at step 1902, with the controller employing anIGP proxy that is configured to communicate information regarding thecontroller or controller cluster/group to one or more network elementsusing IGP with extensions. At step 1904, the controller establishes anIGP adjacency relation or relationship with the one or more networkelements for the purpose of exchanging routing information. In anembodiment, to establish the IGP adjacency relationship, the IGP proxyof the controller and the one or more network elements exchange asequence of Hello packets to establish two-way communication between theIGP proxy of the controller and the one or more network elements. TheIGP adjacency relationship is then formed by synchronizing their linkstate databases.

During normal network operations, the controller, at step 1906, via theIGP proxy of the controller, advertises the controller information suchas, but not limited to, the controller's position within a controllercluster and the number of controllers connected to the advertisingcontroller. In one embodiment, only the primary controller and theintent primary controller of a cluster or a group originates the LSA orLSP with the Controllers TLV containing the information about thecontrollers in the cluster or group. An intent primary controller is acontroller that has the highest priority ranking to become the primarycontroller in a cluster group (e.g., Controller B 404 is the intentprimary controller for group 2 because it has the highest priorityranking to become the primary controller in group 2).

In an embodiment, for OSPF, when Controller A 402 is the primarycontroller, during normal network operations, the IGP proxy ofController A originates an LSA (e.g., OSPFv2 RI Opaque LSA 700 in FIG. 7or OSPFv3 RI Opaque LSA 800 in FIG. 8 ) that includes a Controllers TLVcontaining C=1, Position=1, NoControllers=n, OldPosition=1, Priority ofPrimary Controller, Primary Controller's ID, secondary controller's ID,. . . , and nth Controller's ID as depicted by Controllers TLV 2000A inFIG. 20A. For IS-IS, when Controller A 402 is the primary controller,the IGP proxy of Controller A originates an LSP (e.g., LSP 1100 in FIG.11 ) that includes a Controllers TLV 2100A as depicted in FIG. 21A.

In another embodiment, the IGP proxy in every controller originates theLSA or LSP with the Controllers TLV containing the information about thecontrollers in the cluster or group. For example, for any non-primarycontroller J (where j>1), the IGP proxy of controller J originates anLSA or LSP that includes the Controllers TLV containing C=0, Position j,NoControllers=n, OldPosition=j, the priority of the j-th controller,Primary Controller's ID, secondary controller's ID, . . . , and nthController's ID. For instance, when Controller B is the secondarycontroller, the IGP proxy of Controller B originates an LSA thatincludes the Controllers TLV 2000B in FIG. 20B, or an LSP that includesthe Controllers TLV 2100B in FIG. 21B.

At step 1908, the controller, via the IGP proxy of the controller,detects one or more network communication failures with the othercontrollers in the controller cluster that result in splitting thecontroller cluster into two or more groups of controllers. Thecommunication failure may be a one or more connection failures betweentwo controllers and/or a failure of one or more of the controllerswithin the controller cluster. In an embodiment, when the controllerdetects that the heartbeat of another controller in the controllercluster has stopped, the controller knows that the other controlling isno longer part of the same controller group and that the controllercluster (e.g., controller cluster 410) has split into two or morecontroller groups. In an embodiment, when the controller cluster splitsinto two or more groups of controllers, each group of controllers electsits intent primary controller, secondary controller, and so on withinthe group (e.g., based on the priorities, IDs and old positions of thecontrollers in the group). For example, in an embodiment, Controller Ais elected as the intent primary and Controller C is the secondarycontroller in group 1; and Controller B is elected as the intent primaryand Controller N is the secondary controller in group 2.

At step 1910, the controller, via the IGP proxy of the controller,advertises updated controller information using IGP with the newcontrollers TLV to reflect the change in the controller/controllergroup. For example, in an embodiment, each of the intent primarycontrollers A and B originates the LSA or LSP with the Controllers TLVcontaining the updated information about the controllers in its group.The LSA or LSP is distributed/advertised to every node running IGPincluding every live controller. For instance, assuming the intentprimary Controller A was the previous primary controller and has notfailed, Controller A, via the IGP proxy of the Controller A, advertisesan LSA or LSP with a Controllers TLV containing C-bit field=0, Positionfield=1, NoControllers field=n (n is the number of controllers in thegroup that the intent primary controller is connected after thefailures, in this case n=2), OldPosition field=1, Priorityfield=Priority of Intent Primary Controller, and Controller IDfield=Intent Primary Controller's ID and IDs of the other controllersconnected as shown in FIG. 22A (for LSA) and FIG. 23A (for LSP). For anynon-primary controller J (where j>1), the IGP proxy of controller Joriginates an LSA or LSP that includes the Controllers TLV containingC-bit field=0, Position field=i, where i is the intent position in thegroup, NoControllers field=n (n is the number of controllers in thegroup that the controller is connected after the failures), OldPositionfield=j, Priority field=controller j's Priority. When i=1 then the oldj-th controller is the intent primary controller in the group. Forinstance, assuming the Controller B is elected as the intent primary andController N is the secondary controller in group 2, Controller B, viathe IGP proxy of the controller B, advertises an LSA or LSP with aControllers TLV containing C-bit field=0, Position field=1,NoControllers field=2, OldPosition field=2, Priority field=ControllerB's Priority, Controller ID field=Controller B's ID and Controller N'sID as depicted in FIG. 22B (for LSA) and FIG. 23B (for LSP).

At step 1912, the controller, after a given time such as 300 milliseconds, determines, via the IGP proxy of the controller, whether thecontroller is the part of the group that is elected as the primary groupamong the split controller groups. In an embodiment, the group with amaximum number of controllers based on the advertised updated controllerinformation (from step 1910) is elected as the primary controller groupresponsible for controlling the network. A new primary controller,secondary controller, and so on are elected from the elected primarygroup based on the positions of the controllers in the elected primarygroup. In an embodiment, when both group 1 (Controller A and ControllerC) and group 2 (Controller B and Controller N) have an equal number ofcontrollers, the group with the higher OldPosition (OldPosition in group1 is higher than that in group 2) is elected as the primary group, andthe intent primary controller in the primary group is determined as theactive primary controller.

When the controller, determines, via the IGP proxy of the controller,that the controller is not part of the group that is elected as theprimary group among the split controller groups, the IGP proxy of thecontroller, at step 1914, advertises an updated LSA or LSP with theControllers TLV indicating that the controller is not primary controller(e.g., advertises the LSA or LSP with the Controllers TLV containingC-bit field=0, Position field=1, NoControllers field=n, OldPositionfield=1 (if previous primary controller) or j (if previously non-primarycontroller), Priority field=Controllers' Priority, Controller IDfield=the IDs of the controllers in the group).

When the controller, determines, via the IGP proxy of the controller,that the controller is part of the group that is elected as the primarygroup among the split controller groups, the IGP proxy of thecontroller, at step 1918, determines whether the controller is theintent controller of the elected primary group (e.g., based on thecontrollers' position within the group). In an embodiment, when thecontroller is part of the elected primary group and is not the intentcontroller, the controller, at step 1914, advertises, via the IGP proxyof the controller an updated LSA or LSP with the Controllers TLVindicating that the controller is not primary controller (e.g., withControllers TLV containing C-bit field=0, Position field=1,NoControllers field=n, OldPosition field=j). When the controller is theintent primary controller of the elected primary group, the controller,at step 1916, advertises, via the IGP proxy of the controller an updatedLSA or LSP with the Controllers TLV indicating that the controller ispromoted to the active primary controller of the network (e.g.,advertises the LSA or LSP with the Controllers TLV containing C-bitfield=1, Position field=1, NoControllers field=n, OldPosition field=1,Controller ID field=IDs of the controllers in the group). For example,in the given example, the intent primary Controller A in the primarygroup (i.e., group 1) originates the LSA or LSP with the Controllers TLVcontaining C-bit field=1, Position field=1, NoControllers field=2,OldPosition field=1, Priority field=Controller A's Priority, ControllerID field=Controller A's ID and Controller C's ID as depicted in FIG. 24(for LSA) and FIG. 25 (for LSP).

In another embodiment or second example, assume, at step 1908, thatController A itself has failed along with the communication link betweenController A 402 and Controller B 404, the communication link betweenController A 402 and Controller N 408, and the communication linkbetween Controller C 406 and Controller N 408. These failures result insplitting the controller cluster 410 into two groups, group 1 comprisingController C 406, and group 2 comprising Controller B 404 and ControllerN 408. In this embodiment, Controller C is elected as the intent primaryin group 1. Controller C, at step 1910, via the IGP proxy of thecontroller C, advertises an LSA or LSP with a Controllers TLV containingC-bit field=0, Position field=1, NoControllers field=1, OldPositionfield=3, Priority field=Controller C's Priority, and Controller IDfield=Controller C's ID as shown in FIG. 26 (for LSA) and FIG. 28 (forLSP). Assuming that Controller B is elected as the intent primarycontroller and Controller N is the secondary controller in group 2,Controller B, at step 1910, via the IGP proxy of the controller B,advertises an LSA or LSP with a Controllers TLV containing C-bitfield=0, Position field=1, NoControllers field=2, OldPosition field=2,Priority field=Controller B's Priority, and Controller IDfield=Controller B's ID and Controller N's ID as depicted in FIG. 27(for LSA) and FIG. 29 (for LSP).

At step 1912, the controller elects group 2 as the primary group amongthe split controller groups because group 2 includes more controllersthan group 1. Controller B, being the intent primary controller of theelected primary group, originates, at step 1916, the LSA or LSP with theControllers TLV containing C-bit field=1, Position field=1,NoControllers field=2, OldPosition field=1, Priority field=B's Priority,and Controller ID field=Controller B's ID and Controller N's ID asdepicted in FIG. 30 (for LSA) and FIG. 31 (for LSP) to indicate that itis the active primary controller of the network.

FIG. 20A is an example of a Controllers TLV 2000A in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The Controllers TLV 2000A depictsan example of the Controllers TLV 500 for a controller cluster havingmore than two controllers (e.g., primary, secondary, . . . , nthcontroller as depicted in FIG. 4 ). Specifically, the Controllers TLV2000A depicts the controller information of the primary controller(e.g., Controller A 402 in FIG. 4 ) in a controller cluster having morethan two controllers during normal operations. As stated above, theControllers TLV 2000A when included in a RI LSA (e.g., as described inFIG. 7 and FIG. 8 ) advertises the information about the controller andthe controller cluster.

In the depicted embodiment, the Controllers TLV 2000A includes a Typefield 2002A, a Length field 2004A, a Flags field 2006A, a C-bit field2008A, a Position field 2010A, a NoControllers field 2012A, aOldPosition field 2014A, a Reserved field 2016A, a Priority field 2018A,and Controller ID field 2020A. The Type field 2002A is 16 bits andstores a value (TBD) that indicates that the data format is aControllers TLV. The Length field 2004A is n*4+8 to indicate the lengthof the value portion of the Controllers TLV 2000A in octets, where n isthe number of controllers in the controller cluster. For example, whenthere are 6 controllers in the controller cluster, then the Length field2004A is 6*4+8=32. The Flags field 2006A is 8 bits and includes theC-bit field 2008A. In the depicted embodiment, the C-bit field 2008A isset to 1 to indicate that the position of the advertising controller isthe position of the current active primary controller. The Positionfield 2010A is set to 1 to indicate that the advertising controller iscurrently in the first position in the controller cluster or group. Inthe depicted embodiment, the values of the C-bit field 2008A and thePosition field 2010A (C=1 and P=1) indicate to network elementsreceiving the LSA containing the Controllers TLV 2000A that the LSA isadvertised by the current active primary controller. In the depictedembodiment, the NoControllers field 2012A is set to n to indicate thatthere are n controllers (including itself) connected to the advertisingcontroller. The OldPosition field 2014A is set to 1 to indicate the oldposition of the controller in the controller cluster prior to thecontroller cluster being split. In an embodiment, the Reserved field2016A is set to zero for transmission and ignored for reception. ThePriority field 2018A indicates the priority of the controller to beelected as a primary controller. The Controller ID field 2020A containsthe controller IDs of the n controllers in the controller cluster orgroup (i.e., Controller A's ID, Controller B's ID, . . . , andController N's ID).

FIG. 20B is an example of a Controllers TLV 2000B in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The Controllers TLV 2000B depictsan example of the Controllers TLV 500 for a controller cluster havingmore than two controllers (e.g., primary, secondary, . . . , nthcontrollers as depicted in FIG. 4 ). Specifically, the Controllers TLV2000B depicts the controller information of a secondary controller in acontroller cluster having more than two controllers during normaloperations (e.g., secondary, . . . , and nth controllers as depicted inFIG. 4 ). As stated above, the Controllers TLV 2000B when included in aRI LSA (e.g., as described in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 ) advertises theinformation about the controller and controller cluster/group.

In the depicted embodiment, the Controllers TLV 2000B includes a Typefield 2002B, a Length field 2004B, a Flags field 2006B, a C-bit field2008B, a Position field 2010B, a NoControllers field 2012B, aOldPosition field 2014B, a Reserved field 2016B, a Priority field 2018B,and Controller ID field 2020B. The Type field 2002B is 16 bits andstores a value (TBD) that indicates that the data format is aControllers TLV. The Length field 2004B is n*4+8 to indicate the lengthof the value portion of the Controllers TLV 2000B in octets, where n isthe number of controllers in the controller cluster. The Flags field2006B is 8 bits and includes the C-bit field 2008B. In the depictedembodiment, the C-bit field 2008B is set to 0 to indicate that theposition of the advertising controller is not the position of thecurrent active primary controller. The Position field 2010B is set to 2to indicate that the controller that is advertising the LSA (i.e.,Controller B 306 in FIG. 3 ) is currently in the second position in thecontroller cluster or group. The NoControllers field 2012B is set to nto indicate that there are n controllers (including itself) connected tothe advertising controller. The OldPosition field 2014B is set to 2 toindicate the old position of the controller in the controller clusterprior to the controller cluster being split. In an embodiment, theReserved field 2016B is set to zero for transmission and ignored forreception. The Priority field 2018B indicates the priority of thecontroller to be elected as a primary controller. The Controller IDfield 2020B contains the controller IDs of the n controllers in thecontroller cluster or group (i.e., Controller A's ID, Controller B's ID,. . . , and Controller N's ID).

FIG. 21A is an example of a Controllers TLV 2100A in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The Controllers TLV 2100A depictsan example of the Controllers TLV 900 for a controller cluster havingmore than two controllers (e.g., primary, secondary, . . . , nthcontroller as depicted in FIG. 4 ). Specifically, the Controllers TLV2100A depicts the controller information of the primary controller(e.g., Controller A 402 in FIG. 4 ) in a controller cluster having morethan two controllers during normal operations. As stated above in FIG.19 , the Controllers TLV 2100A when included in a LSP (e.g., LSP 1100 inFIG. 11 ) advertises the information about the controller.

The Controllers TLV 2100A includes a Type field 2102A, a Length field2104A, a Flags field 2106A, a C-bit field 2108A, a Position field 2110A,a NoControllers field 2112A, a OldPosition field 2114A, a Priority field2116A, a Reserved field 2118A, and Controller ID field 2120A. The Typefield 2102A specifies a type value (TBD) that indicates that the dataformat is a Controllers TLV. The Length field 2104A is n*4+6 to indicatethe length of the value portion of the Controllers TLV 2100A in octets,where n is the number of controllers in the controller cluster. TheFlags field 2106A can be used to indicate one or more flags. The C-bitfield 2108A is set to 1 to indicate that the position of the advertisingcontroller is the position of the current active primary controller. ThePosition field 2110A is set to 1 to indicate the current/intent positionof the controller in the controller cluster or group (e.g., 1=primary,2=secondary, etc.). The NoControllers field 2112A is set to n toindicate that there are n controllers (including itself) connected tothe advertising controller. The OldPosition field 2114A is set to 1 toindicate the old position of the controller in the controller clusterprior to the controller cluster being split. The Priority field 2116Aindicates the priority of the controller to be elected as a primarycontroller. The Reserved field 2118A is set to zero for transmission andignored for reception. The Controller ID field 2120A contains thecontroller IDs of the n controllers in the controller cluster or group(i.e., Controller A's ID, Controller B's ID, . . . , and Controller N'sID).

FIG. 21B is an example of a Controllers TLV 2100B in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The Controllers TLV 2100B depictsan example of the Controllers TLV 900 for a controller cluster havingmore than two controllers (e.g., primary, secondary, . . . , nthcontrollers as depicted in FIG. 4 ). Specifically, the Controllers TLV2100B depicts the controller information of a secondary controller in acontroller cluster having more than two controllers during normaloperations (e.g., secondary, . . . , and nth controllers as depicted inFIG. 4 ). As stated above in FIG. 19 , the Controllers TLV 2100B whenincluded in a LSP (e.g., LSP 1100 in FIG. 11 ) advertises theinformation about the controller.

In the depicted embodiment, the Controllers TLV 2100B includes a Typefield 2102B, a Length field 2104B, a Flags field 2106B, a C-bit field2108B, a Position field 2110B, a NoControllers field 2112B, aOldPosition field 2114B, a Reserved field 2116B, a Priority field 2118B,and Controller ID field 2120B. The Type field 2102B is 8 bits and storesa value (TBD) that indicates that the data format is a Controllers TLV.The Length field 2104B is n*4+6 to indicate the length of the valueportion of the Controllers TLV 2100B in octets, where n is the number ofcontrollers in the controller cluster. The Flags field 2106B is 8 bitsand includes the C-bit field 2108B. In the depicted embodiment, theC-bit field 2108B is set to 0 to indicate that the position of theadvertising controller is not the position of the current active primarycontroller. The Position field 2110B is set to 2 to indicate that thecontroller that is advertising the LSP (i.e., Controller B 306 in FIG. 3) is currently in the second position in the controller cluster orgroup. The NoControllers field 2112B is set to n to indicate that thereare n controllers (including itself) connected to the advertisingcontroller. The OldPosition field 2114B is set to 2 to indicate the oldposition of the controller in the controller cluster prior to thecontroller cluster being split. In an embodiment, the Reserved field2116B is set to zero for transmission and ignored for reception. ThePriority field 2118B indicates the priority of the controller to beelected as a primary controller. The Controller ID field 2120B containsthe controller IDs of the n controllers in the controller cluster orgroup (i.e., Controller A's ID, Controller B's ID, . . . , andController N's ID).

FIG. 22A is an example of a Controllers TLV 2200A in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The Controllers TLV 2200A depictsan example of the Controllers TLV 500 for a controller cluster havingmore than two controllers (e.g., primary, secondary, . . . , nthcontroller as depicted in FIG. 4 ). Specifically, the Controllers TLV2200A depicts the controller information of the primary controller in acontroller group (e.g., Controller A 402 in FIG. 4 in group 1) that hassplit from the controller cluster 410 having more than two controllersdue to one or more network failures. The Controllers TLV 2200A whenincluded in a RI LSA (e.g., as described in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 )advertises the information about the controller and the controller groupof the controller to enable separated controller groups to obtain thecontroller information of the other groups to enable properselection/election of a primary controller of the network.

In the depicted embodiment, the Controllers TLV 2200A includes a Typefield 2202A, a Length field 2204A, a Flags field 2206A, a C-bit field2208A, a Position field 2210A, a NoControllers field 2212A, aOldPosition field 2214A, a Reserved field 2216A, a Priority field 2218A,and Controller ID field 2220A. The Type field 2202A is 16 bits andstores a value (TBD) that indicates that the data format is aControllers TLV. The Length field 2204A is 16 to indicate the length ofthe value portion of the Controllers TLV 2200A in octets. The Flagsfield 2206A is 8 bits and includes the C-bit field 2208A. In thedepicted embodiment, the C-bit field 2208A is set to 0 to indicate thatthe position of the advertising controller is not the position of thecurrent active primary controller. The Position field 2210A is set to 1to indicate that the advertising controller is currently in the firstposition in the controller group 1. The NoControllers field 2212A is setto 2 to indicate that there are 2 controllers (including itself)connected to the advertising controller (i.e., total of 2 controllers ingroup 1). The OldPosition field 2214A is set to 1 to indicate the oldposition of the controller in the controller cluster prior to thecontroller cluster being split. The Reserved field 2216A is set to zerofor transmission and ignored for reception. The Priority field 2218Aindicates the priority of the controller to be elected as a primarycontroller. The Controller ID field 2220A contains the controller IDs ofthe 2 controllers in the controller group 1 (i.e., Controller A's ID andController C's ID).

FIG. 22B is an example of a Controllers TLV 2200B in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The Controllers TLV 2200B depictsan example of the Controllers TLV 500 for a controller cluster havingmore than two controllers (e.g., primary, secondary, . . . , nthcontroller as depicted in FIG. 4 ). Specifically, the Controllers TLV2200B depicts the controller information of a secondary controller in acontroller group (e.g., Controller B 404 in FIG. 4 in group 2) that hassplit from the controller cluster 410 having more than two controllersdue to one or more network failures. The Controllers TLV 2200B whenincluded in a RI LSA (e.g., as described in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 )advertises the information about the controller and the controller groupof the controller to enable separated controller groups to obtain thecontroller information of the other groups to enable properselection/election of a primary controller of the network.

In the depicted embodiment, the Controllers TLV 2200B includes a Typefield 2202B, a Length field 2204B, a Flags field 2206B, a C-bit field2208B, a Position field 2210B, a NoControllers field 2212B, aOldPosition field 2214B, a Reserved field 2216B, a Priority field 2218B,and Controller ID field 2220B. The Type field 2202B is 16 bits andstores a value (TBD) that indicates that the data format is aControllers TLV. The Length field 2204B is 16 to indicate the length ofthe value portion of the Controllers TLV 2200B in octets. The Flagsfield 2206B is 8 bits and includes the C-bit field 2208B. In thedepicted embodiment, the C-bit field 2208B is set to 0 to indicate thatthe position of the advertising controller is not the position of thecurrent active primary controller. The Position field 2210B is set to 1to indicate that the advertising controller is currently in the firstposition in the controller group 2. The NoControllers field 2212B is setto 2 to indicate that there are 2 controllers (including itself)connected to the advertising controller (i.e., total of 2 controllers ingroup 2). The OldPosition field 2214B is set to 2 to indicate the oldposition of the controller in the controller cluster prior to thecontroller cluster being split. The Reserved field 2216B is set to zerofor transmission and ignored for reception. The Priority field 2218Bindicates the priority of the controller to be elected as a primarycontroller. The Controller ID field 2220B contains the controller IDs ofthe 2 controllers in the controller group 2 (i.e., Controller B's ID andController N's ID).

FIG. 23A is an example of a Controllers TLV 2300A in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The Controllers TLV 2300A depictsan example of the Controllers TLV 900 for a controller cluster havingmore than two controllers (e.g., primary, secondary, . . . , nthcontroller as depicted in FIG. 4 ). Specifically, the Controllers TLV2300A depicts the controller information of the primary controller in acontroller group (e.g., Controller A 402 in FIG. 4 in group 1) that hassplit from the controller cluster 410 having more than two controllersdue to one or more network failures. The Controllers TLV 2300A whenincluded in a LSP (e.g., LSP 1100 in FIG. 11 ) advertises theinformation about the controller and the controller group of thecontroller to enable separated controller groups to obtain thecontroller information of the other groups to enable properselection/election of a primary controller of the network.

The Controllers TLV 2300A includes a Type field 2302A, a Length field2304A, a Flags field 2306A, a C-bit field 2308A, a Position field 2310A,a NoControllers field 2312A, a OldPosition field 2314A, a Priority field2316A, a Reserved field 2318A, and Controller ID field 2320A. The Typefield 2302A specifies a type value (TBD) that indicates that the dataformat is a Controllers TLV. The Length field 2304A is 14 to indicatethe length of the value portion of the Controllers TLV 2300A in octets.The Flags field 2306A can be used to indicate one or more flags. TheC-bit field 2308A is set to 0 to indicate that the position of theadvertising controller is not the position of the current active primarycontroller. The Position field 2310A is set to 1 to indicate that theadvertising controller is currently in the first position in thecontroller group 1. The NoControllers field 2312A is set to 2 toindicate that there are 2 controllers (including itself) connected tothe advertising controller (i.e., total of 2 controllers in group 1).The OldPosition field 2314A is set to 1 to indicate the old position ofthe controller in the controller cluster prior to the controller clusterbeing split. The Priority field 2316A indicates the priority of thecontroller to be elected as a primary controller. The Reserved field2318A is set to zero for transmission and ignored for reception. TheController ID field 2320A contains the controller IDs of the 2controllers in the controller group 1 (i.e., Controller A's ID andController C's ID).

FIG. 23B is an example of a Controllers TLV 2300B in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The Controllers TLV 2300B depictsan example of the Controllers TLV 900 for a controller cluster havingmore than two controllers (e.g., primary, secondary, . . . , nthcontroller as depicted in FIG. 4 ). Specifically, the Controllers TLV2300B depicts the controller information of the secondary controller ina controller group (e.g., Controller B 404 in FIG. 4 in group 2) thathas split from the controller cluster 410 having more than twocontrollers due to one or more network failures. The Controllers TLV2300B when included in a LSP (e.g., LSP 1100 in FIG. 11 ) advertises theinformation about the controller and the controller group of thecontroller to enable separated controller groups to obtain thecontroller information of the other groups to enable properselection/election of a primary controller of the network.

The Controllers TLV 2300B includes a Type field 2302B, a Length field2304B, a Flags field 2306B, a C-bit field 2308B, a Position field 2310B,a NoControllers field 2312B, a OldPosition field 2314B, a Priority field2316B, a Reserved field 2318B, and Controller ID field 2320B. The Typefield 2302B specifies a type value (TBD) that indicates that the dataformat is a Controllers TLV. The Length field 2304B is 14 to indicatethe length of the value portion of the Controllers TLV 2300B in octets.The Flags field 2306B can be used to indicate one or more flags. TheC-bit field 2308B is set to 0 to indicate that the position of theadvertising controller is not the position of the current active primarycontroller. The Position field 2310B is set to 1 to indicate that theadvertising controller is currently in the first position in thecontroller group 2. The NoControllers field 2312B is set to 2 toindicate that there are 2 controllers (including itself) connected tothe advertising controller (i.e., total of 2 controllers in group 2).The OldPosition field 2314B is set to 2 to indicate the old position ofthe controller in the controller cluster prior to the controller clusterbeing split. The Priority field 2316B indicates the priority of thecontroller to be elected as a primary controller. The Reserved field2318B is set to zero for transmission and ignored for reception. TheController ID field 2320B contains the controller IDs of the 2controllers in the controller group 2 (i.e., Controller B's ID andController N's ID).

FIG. 24 is an example of a Controllers TLV 2400 in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The Controllers TLV 2400 depictsan example of the Controllers TLV 500 for a controller cluster havingmore than two controllers (e.g., primary, secondary, . . . , nthcontroller as depicted in FIG. 4 ). Specifically, the Controllers TLV2400 depicts the controller information of the primary controller in acontroller group (e.g., Controller A 402 in FIG. 4 in group 1) that hassplit from the controller cluster 410 having more than two controllersdue to one or more network failures. In the depicted embodiment, thecontroller group 1 is elected as the primary group among all the splitgroups of the original controller cluster. The Controllers TLV 2400 whenincluded in a RI LSA (e.g., as described in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 )advertises the information about the controller and the controller group1 to enable separated controller groups to obtain the controllerinformation of group 1 so that they are aware of thecontroller/controller group 1 information.

The Controllers TLV 2400 includes a Type field 2402, a Length field2404, a Flags field 2406, a C-bit field 2408, a Position field 2410, aNoControllers field 2412, a OldPosition field 2414, a Reserved field2416, a Priority field 2418, and Controller ID field 2420. The Typefield 2402 specifies a type value (TBD) that indicates that the dataformat is a Controllers TLV. The Length field 2404 is 16 to indicate thelength of the value portion of the Controllers TLV 2400 in octets. TheFlags field 2406 can be used to indicate one or more flags. The C-bitfield 2408 is set to 1 to indicate that the position of the advertisingcontroller is the position of the current active primary controller. ThePosition field 2410 is set to 1 to indicate that the advertisingcontroller is currently in the first position in the controller group 1.The NoControllers field 2412 is set to 2 to indicate that there are 2controllers (including itself) connected to the advertising controller(i.e., total of 2 controllers in group 1). The OldPosition field 2414 isset to 1 to indicate the old position of the controller in thecontroller cluster prior to the controller cluster being split. TheReserved field 2416 is set to zero for transmission and ignored forreception. The Priority field 2418 indicates the priority of thecontroller to be elected as a primary controller. The Controller IDfield 2420 contains the controller IDs of the 2 controllers in thecontroller group 1 (i.e., Controller A's ID and Controller C's ID).

FIG. 25 is an example of a Controllers TLV 2500 in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The Controllers TLV 2500 depictsan example of the Controllers TLV 900 for a controller cluster havingmore than two controllers (e.g., primary, secondary, . . . , nthcontroller as depicted in FIG. 4 ). Specifically, the Controllers TLV2500 depicts the controller information of the primary controller in acontroller group (e.g., Controller A 402 in FIG. 4 in group 1) that hassplit from the controller cluster 410 having more than two controllersdue to one or more network failures. In the depicted embodiment, thecontroller group 1 is elected as the primary group among all the splitgroups of the original controller cluster. The Controllers TLV 2500 whenincluded in a LSP (e.g., LSP 1100 in FIG. 11 ) advertises theinformation about the controller and the controller group 1 to enableseparated controller groups to obtain the controller information ofgroup 1 so that they are aware of the controller/controller group 1information.

The Controllers TLV 2500 includes a Type field 2502, a Length field2504, a Flags field 2506, a C-bit field 2508, a Position field 2510, aNoControllers field 2512, a OldPosition field 2514, a Priority field2516, a Reserved field 2518, and Controller ID field 2520. The Typefield 2502 specifies a type value (TBD) that indicates that the dataformat is a Controllers TLV. The Length field 2504 is 14 to indicate thelength of the value portion of the Controllers TLV 2500 in octets. TheFlags field 2506 can be used to indicate one or more flags. The C-bitfield 2508 is set to 1 to indicate that the position of the advertisingcontroller is the position of the current active primary controller. ThePosition field 2510 is set to 1 to indicate that the advertisingcontroller is currently in the first position in the controller group 1.The NoControllers field 2512 is set to 2 to indicate that there are 2controllers (including itself) connected to the advertising controller(i.e., total of 2 controllers in group 1). The OldPosition field 2514 isset to 1 to indicate the old position of the controller in thecontroller cluster prior to the controller cluster being split. ThePriority field 2516 indicates the priority of the controller to beelected as a primary controller. The Reserved field 2518 is set to zerofor transmission and ignored for reception. The Controller ID field 2520contains the controller IDs of the 2 controllers in the controller group1 (i.e., Controller A's ID and Controller C's ID).

FIG. 26 is an example of a Controllers TLV 2600 in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The Controllers TLV 2600 depictsan example of the Controllers TLV 500 for a controller cluster havingmore than two controllers (e.g., primary, secondary, . . . , nthcontroller as depicted in FIG. 4 ). Specifically, the Controllers TLV2600 depicts the controller information of the primary controller in acontroller group (e.g., controller C 406 in FIG. 4 in group 1) that hassplit from the controller cluster 410 having more than two controllersdue to one or more network failures including the failure of primaryController A 402. In the depicted embodiment, the controller group 1 isnot elected as the primary group among all the split groups of theoriginal controller cluster and controller C being the only remainingcontroller in the controller group 1 is elected as the intent primarycontroller of the network. The Controllers TLV 2600 when included in aRI LSA (e.g., as described in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 ) advertises theinformation about controller C and the controller group 1 to enableseparated controller groups to obtain the controller information ofgroup 1 so that they are aware of the controller/controller group 1information.

The Controllers TLV 2600 includes a Type field 2602, a Length field2604, a Flags field 2606, a C-bit field 2608, a Position field 2610, aNoControllers field 2612, a OldPosition field 2614, a Reserved field2616, a Priority field 2618, and Controller ID field 2620. The Typefield 2602 specifies a type value (TBD) that indicates that the dataformat is a Controllers TLV. The Length field 2604 is 12 to indicate thelength of the value portion of the Controllers TLV 2600 in octets. TheFlags field 2606 can be used to indicate one or more flags. The C-bitfield 2608 is set to 0 to indicate that the position of the advertisingcontroller is not the position of the current active primary controller.The Position field 2610 is set to 1 to indicate that the advertisingcontroller is currently in the first position in the controller group 1.The NoControllers field 2612 is set to 1 to indicate that there is 1controller (i.e., itself) connected to the advertising controller (i.e.,total of 1 controller in group 1). The OldPosition field 2614 is set to3 to indicate the old position of the controller in the controllercluster prior to the controller cluster being split. The Reserved field2616 is set to zero for transmission and ignored for reception. ThePriority field 2618 indicates the priority of the controller to beelected as a primary controller. The Controller ID field 2620 containsthe controller ID of the controllers in the controller group 1 (i.e.,Controller C's ID).

FIG. 27 is an example of a Controllers TLV 2700 in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The Controllers TLV 2700 depictsan example of the Controllers TLV 500 for a controller cluster havingmore than two controllers (e.g., primary, secondary, . . . , nthcontroller as depicted in FIG. 4 ). Specifically, the Controllers TLV2700 depicts the controller information of Controller B 404 in group 2(Controller B 404 and Controller N 408 in FIG. 4 ) after the controllercluster 410 splits due to one or more network failures. In the depictedembodiment, the Controller B 404 is elected as the intent primary ofgroup 2, but group 2 is not elected as the primary group of the splitgroups. Controller B 404, via its IGP proxy, originates an RI LSA (e.g.,as described in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 ) advertising the information aboutController B 404 and controller group 2 to enable separated controllergroups to obtain the controller information of Controller B 404 andcontroller group 2.

The Controllers TLV 2700 includes a Type field 2702, a Length field2704, a Flags field 2706, a C-bit field 2708, a Position field 2710, aNoControllers field 2712, a OldPosition field 2714, a Reserved field2716, a Priority field 2718, and Controller ID field 2720. The Typefield 2702 specifies a type value (TBD) that indicates that the dataformat is a Controllers TLV. The Length field 2704 is 16 to indicate thelength of the value portion of the Controllers TLV 2700 in octets. TheFlags field 2706 can be used to indicate one or more flags. The C-bitfield 2708 is set to 0 to indicate that the position of the advertisingcontroller (Controller B 404 in group 2) is not the position of thecurrent active primary controller because group 2 is not elected as theprimary group. The Position field 2710 is set to 1 to indicate that theadvertising controller is currently in the first position in thecontroller group 2. The NoControllers field 2712 is set to 2 to indicatethat there are 2 controllers (including itself) connected to theadvertising controller (i.e., total of 2 controller in group 2). TheOldPosition field 2714 is set to 2 to indicate the old position of thecontroller in the controller cluster prior to the controller clusterbeing split. The Reserved field 2716 is set to zero for transmission andignored for reception. The Priority field 2718 indicates the priority ofthe controller to be elected as a primary controller. The Controller IDfield 2720 contains the controller IDs of the controllers in thecontroller group 2 (i.e., Controller B's ID and Controller N's ID).

FIG. 28 is an example of a Controllers TLV 2800 in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The Controllers TLV 2800 depictsan example of the Controllers TLV 900 for a controller cluster havingmore than two controllers (e.g., primary, secondary, . . . , nthcontroller as depicted in FIG. 4 ). Specifically, the Controllers TLV2800 depicts the controller information of controller C 406 in FIG. 4 ingroup 1 after the controller cluster 410 splits due to one or morenetwork failures including the failure of primary Controller A 402. Inthe depicted embodiment, the controller group 1 is not elected as theprimary group among all the split groups of the original controllercluster. Controller C being the only remaining controller in thecontroller group 1 is elected as the intent primary controller of thenetwork. The IGP proxy of the Controller C originates a LSP (e.g., LSP1100 in FIG. 11 ) that includes the Controllers TLV 2800 to advertisethe information about controller C and the controller group 1 to enableseparated controller groups to obtain the controller information ofcontroller C and the controller group 1.

The Controllers TLV 2800 includes a Type field 2802, a Length field2804, a Flags field 2806, a C-bit field 2808, a Position field 2810, aNoControllers field 2812, a OldPosition field 2814, a Priority field2816, a Reserved field 2818, and Controller ID field 2820. The Typefield 2802 specifies a type value (TBD) that indicates that the dataformat is a Controllers TLV. The Length field 2804 is 10 to indicate thelength of the value portion of the Controllers TLV 2800 in octets. TheFlags field 2806 can be used to indicate one or more flags. The C-bitfield 2808 is set to 0 to indicate that the position of the advertisingcontroller is not the position of the current active primary controller.The Position field 2810 is set to 1 to indicate that the advertisingcontroller is currently in the first position in the controller group 1.The NoControllers field 2812 is set to 1 to indicate that there is 1controller (i.e., itself) connected to the advertising controller (i.e.,total of 1 controller in group 1). The OldPosition field 2814 is set to3 to indicate the old position of the controller in the controllercluster prior to the controller cluster being split. The Priority field2816 indicates the priority of the controller to be elected as a primarycontroller. The Reserved field 2818 is set to zero for transmission andignored for reception. The Controller ID field 2820 contains thecontroller ID of the controllers in the controller group 1 (i.e.,Controller C's ID).

FIG. 29 is an example of a Controllers TLV 2900 in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The Controllers TLV 2900 depictsan example of the Controllers TLV 900 for a controller cluster havingmore than two controllers (e.g., primary, secondary, . . . , nthcontroller as depicted in FIG. 4 ). Specifically, the Controllers TLV2900 depicts the controller information of Controller B 404 in group 2(Controller B 404 and Controller N 408 in FIG. 4 ) after the controllercluster 410 splits due to one or more network failures. In the depictedembodiment, the Controller B 404 is elected as the intent primary ofgroup 2, but group 2 is not elected as the primary group. Controller B404, via its IGP proxy, originates an LSP (e.g., LSP 1100 in FIG. 11 )that includes the Controllers TLV 2900 to advertise the informationabout Controller B 404 and controller group 2 to enable separatedcontroller groups to obtain the controller information of Controller B404 and controller group 2.

The Controllers TLV 2900 includes a Type field 2902, a Length field2904, a Flags field 2906, a C-bit field 2908, a Position field 2910, aNoControllers field 2912, a OldPosition field 2914, a Priority field2916, a Reserved field 2918, and Controller ID field 2920. The Typefield 2902 specifies a type value (TBD) that indicates that the dataformat is a Controllers TLV. The Length field 2904 is 14 to indicate thelength of the value portion of the Controllers TLV 2900 in octets. TheFlags field 2906 can be used to indicate one or more flags. The C-bitfield 2908 is set to 0 to indicate that the position of the advertisingcontroller (Controller B 404 in group 2) is not the position of thecurrent active primary controller because group 2 is not elected as theprimary group. The Position field 2910 is set to 1 to indicate that theadvertising controller is currently in the first position in thecontroller group 2. The NoControllers field 2912 is set to 2 to indicatethat there are 2 controllers (including itself) connected to theadvertising controller (i.e., total of 2 controller in group 2). TheOldPosition field 2914 is set to 2 to indicate the old position of thecontroller in the controller cluster prior to the controller clusterbeing split. The Priority field 2916 indicates the priority of thecontroller to be elected as a primary controller. The Reserved field2918 is set to zero for transmission and ignored for reception. TheController ID field 2920 contains the controller IDs of the controllersin the controller group 2 (i.e., Controller B's ID and Controller N'sID).

FIG. 30 is an example of a Controllers TLV 3000 in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The Controllers TLV 3000 depictsan example of the Controllers TLV 500 for a controller cluster havingmore than two controllers (e.g., primary, secondary, . . . , nthcontroller as depicted in FIG. 4 ). Specifically, the Controllers TLV3000 depicts the controller information of Controller B 404 in group 2(Controller B 404 and Controller N 408 in FIG. 4 ) after the controllercluster 410 splits due to one or more network failures. In the depictedembodiment, the Controller B 404 is elected as the intent primary ofgroup 2, and group 2 is elected as the primary group of the splitgroups. Controller B 404, via its IGP proxy, originates an RI LSA (e.g.,as described in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 ) advertising the information aboutController B 404 and controller group 2 to enable separated controllergroups to obtain the controller information of Controller B 404 andcontroller group 2.

The Controllers TLV 3000 includes a Type field 3002, a Length field3004, a Flags field 3006, a C-bit field 3008, a Position field 3010, aNoControllers field 3012, a OldPosition field 3014, a Reserved field3016, a Priority field 3018, and Controller ID field 3020. The Typefield 3002 specifies a type value (TBD) that indicates that the dataformat is a Controllers TLV. The Length field 3004 is 16 to indicate thelength of the value portion of the Controllers TLV 3000 in octets. TheFlags field 3006 can be used to indicate one or more flags. The C-bitfield 3008 is set to 1 to indicate that the position of the advertisingcontroller (Controller B 404 in group 2) is the position of the currentactive primary controller because group 2 is elected as the primarygroup. The Position field 3010 is set to 1 to indicate that theadvertising controller is currently in the first position in thecontroller group 2, thus making the advertising controller the primarycontroller of the network. The NoControllers field 3012 is set to 2 toindicate that there are 2 controllers (including itself) connected tothe advertising controller (i.e., total of 2 controller in group 2). TheOldPosition field 3014 is set to 2 to indicate the old position of thecontroller in the controller cluster prior to the controller clusterbeing split. The Reserved field 3016 is set to zero for transmission andignored for reception. The Priority field 3018 indicates the priority ofthe controller to be elected as a primary controller. The Controller IDfield 3020 contains the controller IDs of the controllers in thecontroller group 2 (i.e., Controller B's ID and Controller N's ID).

FIG. 31 is an example of a Controllers TLV 3100 in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The Controllers TLV 3100 depictsan example of the Controllers TLV 900 for a controller cluster havingmore than two controllers (e.g., primary, secondary, . . . , nthcontroller as depicted in FIG. 4 ). Specifically, the Controllers TLV3100 depicts the controller information of Controller B 404 in group 2(Controller B 404 and Controller N 408 in FIG. 4 ) after the controllercluster 410 splits due to one or more network failures. In the depictedembodiment, the Controller B 404 is elected as the intent primary ofgroup 2, and group 2 is elected as the primary group. Controller B 404,via its IGP proxy, originates an LSP (e.g., LSP 1100 in FIG. 11 ) thatincludes the Controllers TLV 3100 to advertise the information aboutController B 404 and controller group 2 to enable separated controllergroups to obtain the controller information of Controller B 404 andcontroller group 2.

The Controllers TLV 3100 includes a Type field 3102, a Length field3104, a Flags field 3106, a C-bit field 3108, a Position field 3110, aNoControllers field 3112, a OldPosition field 3114, a Priority field3116, a Reserved field 3118, and Controller ID field 3120. The Typefield 3102 specifies a type value (TBD) that indicates that the dataformat is a Controllers TLV. The Length field 3104 is 14 to indicate thelength of the value portion of the Controllers TLV 3100 in octets. TheFlags field 3106 can be used to indicate one or more flags. The C-bitfield 3108 is set to 1 to indicate that the position of the advertisingcontroller (Controller B 404 in group 2) is the position of the currentactive primary controller because group 2 is elected as the primarygroup. The Position field 3110 is set to 1 to indicate that theadvertising controller is currently in the first position in thecontroller group 2. The NoControllers field 3112 is set to 2 to indicatethat there are 2 controllers (including itself) connected to theadvertising controller (i.e., total of 2 controller in group 2). TheOldPosition field 3114 is set to 2 to indicate the old position of thecontroller in the controller cluster prior to the controller clusterbeing split. The Priority field 3116 indicates the priority of thecontroller to be elected as a primary controller. The Reserved field3118 is set to zero for transmission and ignored for reception. TheController ID field 3120 contains the controller IDs of the controllersin the controller group 2 (i.e., Controller B's ID and Controller N'sID).

FIG. 32 is a schematic diagram illustrating a network element 3200according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The networkelement 3200 can be any network node such as, but not limited to, anyrouter, switch, and controller, which are used by the service providersaround world. In an embodiment, one or more of the controllers in FIG. 3and FIG. 4 can be implemented using the network element 3200.

The network element 3200 includes receiver units (RX) 3220 or receivingmeans for receiving data via ingress ports 3210. The network element3200 also includes transmitter units (TX) 3240 or transmitting means fortransmitting via data egress ports 3250.

The network element 3200 includes a memory 3260 or data storing meansfor storing the instructions and various data. The memory 3260 can beany type of or combination of memory components capable of storing dataand/or instructions. For example, the memory 3260 can include volatileand/or non-volatile memory such as read-only memory (ROM), random accessmemory (RAM), ternary content-addressable memory (TCAM), and/or staticrandom-access memory (SRAM). The memory 3260 can also include one ormore disks, tape drives, and solid-state drives. In some embodiments,the memory 3260 can be used as an over-flow data storage device to storeprograms when such programs are selected for execution, and to storeinstructions and data that are read during program execution.

The network element 3200 has one or more processor 3230 or otherprocessing means (e.g., central processing unit (CPU)) to processinstructions. The processor 3230 may be implemented as one or more CPUchips, cores (e.g., as a multi-core processor), field-programmable gatearrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), anddigital signal processors (DSPs). The processor 3230 is communicativelycoupled via a system bus with the ingress ports 3210, RX 3220, TX 3240,egress ports 3250, and memory 3260. The processor 3230 can be configuredto execute instructions stored in the memory 3260. Thus, the processor3230 provides a means for performing any computational, comparison,determination, initiation, configuration, or any other actioncorresponding to the claims when the appropriate instruction is executedby the processor. In some embodiments, the memory 3260 can be memorythat is integrated with the processor 3230.

In one embodiment, the memory 3260 stores a network controller clusterIGP module 3270. The network controller cluster IGP module 3270 includesdata and executable instructions for implementing the disclosedembodiments. For instance, the network controller cluster IGP module3270 can include instructions for implementing the methods described inFIG. 12 and FIG. 19 . The inclusion of the network controller clusterIGP module 3270 substantially improves the functionality of the networkelement 3200 by ensuring that not more than one controller is issuinginstructions to a network at the same time, thus improving networkreliability.

While several embodiments have been provided in the present disclosure,it should be understood that the disclosed systems and methods might beembodied in many other specific forms without departing from the spiritor scope of the present disclosure. The present examples are to beconsidered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the intention is notto be limited to the details given herein. For example, the variouselements or components may be combined or integrated in another systemor certain features may be omitted, or not implemented.

In addition, techniques, systems, subsystems, and methods described andillustrated in the various embodiments as discrete or separate may becombined or integrated with other systems, modules, techniques, ormethods without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.Other items shown or discussed as coupled or directly coupled orcommunicating with each other may be indirectly coupled or communicatingthrough some interface, device, or intermediate component whetherelectrically, mechanically, or otherwise. Other examples of changes,substitutions, and alterations are ascertainable by one skilled in theart and could be made without departing from the spirit and scopedisclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method performed by a network controller of acontroller cluster configured to control a network, the controllercluster comprising a plurality of network controllers, the methodcomprising: communicating, using an Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP)proxy, controller information about the network controller to one ormore network elements in the network using IGP; establishing an IGPadjacency relationship between the IGP proxy of the network controllerand the one or more network elements in the network; advertisingcontroller information about the network controller to the one or morenetwork elements, wherein the controller information is included in aControllers Type/Length/Value (TLV), and wherein the Controllers TLVincludes a number of controllers field that indicates a number ofcontrollers connected to the network controller; detecting acommunication failure within the controller cluster that splits in thecontroller cluster into a plurality of controller groups; advertisingupdated controller information about the network controller to the oneor more network elements, the updated controller information reflectinga change to the controller information in response to detecting thecommunication failure; and determining that the network controller ispart of an elected primary group of the plurality of controller groups;and advertising second updated controller information about the networkcontroller to the one or more network elements when the networkcontroller is an intent primary controller of the elected primary group,the second updated controller information indicating that the networkcontroller is a current active primary network controller of thenetwork.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the IGP adjacencyrelationship between the IGP proxy and one or more network elements inthe network is established over a control channel.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the Controllers TLV is included in one of an OpenShortest Path First Version 2 (OSPFv2) Router Informational (RI) OpaqueLink-State Advertisement (LSA), OSPFv3 RI Opaque LSA, or an IntermediateSystem to Intermediate System (IS-IS) Link State Protocol Data Unit(LSP).
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the Controllers TLV includes abit field and a position field, the bit field when set indicates that aposition indicated in the position field is the position of a currentactive primary controller.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein theControllers TLV includes an old position field that indicates a positionof the network controller in the controller cluster prior to thecontroller cluster being split.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein theControllers TLV includes a priority field that indicates a priority ofthe network controller to be elected as a primary network controller. 7.The method of claim 1, wherein the Controllers TLV includes a ControllerIdentifier (ID) field that includes controller IDs of all controllers inthe controller cluster.
 8. A network controller of a controller cluster,the controller cluster comprising a plurality of network controllers ofa network, the network controller comprising: a memory storinginstructions; and one or more processors in communication with thememory, the one or more processors configured to execute theinstructions to cause the network controller to: communicate, using anInterior Gateway Protocol (IGP) proxy, controller information about thenetwork controller using IGP; establish an IGP adjacency relationshipbetween the IGP proxy of the network controller and one or more networkelements in the network; advertise controller information about thenetwork controller to the one or more network elements, wherein thecontroller information is included in a Controllers Type/Length/Value(TLV), and wherein the Controllers TLV includes a number of controllersfield that indicates a number of controllers connected to the networkcontroller; detect a communication failure within the controller clusterthat splits in the controller cluster into a plurality of controllergroups; advertise updated controller information about the networkcontroller to the one or more network elements, the updated controllerinformation reflecting a change to the controller information inresponse to detecting the communication failure; and determine that thenetwork controller is part of an elected primary group of the pluralityof controller groups; and advertise second updated controllerinformation about the network controller to the one or more networkelements when the network controller is an intent primary controller ofthe elected primary group, the second updated controller informationindicating that the network controller is a current active primarynetwork controller of the network.
 9. The network controller of claim 8,wherein the IGP adjacency relationship between the IGP proxy of thenetwork controller and one or more network elements in the network isestablished over a control channel.
 10. The network controller of claim8, wherein the Controllers TLV is included in one of an Open ShortestPath First Version 2 (OSPFv2) Router Informational (RI) OpaqueLink-State Advertisement (LSA), OSPFv3 RI Opaque LSA, or an IntermediateSystem to Intermediate System (IS-IS) Link State Protocol Data Unit(LSP).
 11. The network controller of claim 8, wherein the ControllersTLV includes a bit field and a position field, the bit field when setindicates that a position indicated in the position field is theposition of a current active primary controller.
 12. The networkcontroller of claim 8, wherein the Controllers TLV includes an oldposition field that indicates a position of the network controller inthe controller cluster prior to the controller cluster being split. 13.The network controller of claim 8, wherein the Controllers TLV includesa priority field that indicates a priority of the network controller tobe elected as a primary network controller.
 14. The network controllerof claim 8, wherein the Controllers TLV includes a Controller Identifier(ID) field that includes controller IDs of all controllers in thecontroller cluster.
 15. A network controller comprising: a memorystoring instructions; and one or more processors in communication withthe memory, the one or more processors configured to execute theinstructions to cause the network controller to: configure the networkcontroller as a secondary network controller in a controller cluster;establish an Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) adjacency relationshipbetween an IGP proxy of the network controller and one or more networkelements in the network; advertise controller information about thenetwork controller to the one or more network elements, wherein thecontroller information is included in a Controllers Type/Length/Value(TLV), and wherein the Controllers TLV includes a number of controllersfield that indicates a number of controllers connected to the networkcontroller; detect a communication failure with a primary networkcontroller in the controller cluster; advertise updated controllerinformation about the network controller to the one or more networkelements, the updated controller information reflecting a change to thecontroller information in response to detecting the communicationfailure; determine that the primary network controller has failed; andadvertise second updated controller information about the networkcontroller to the one or more network elements when the primary networkcontroller has failed, the second updated controller informationpromoting the network controller from the secondary network controllerto the primary network controller in the controller cluster.
 16. Thenetwork controller according to claim 15, wherein determining that theprimary network controller has failed comprises using a link statedatabase (LSDB) in the IGP proxy to determine whether the IGP proxy isadvertising the controller information to the one or more networkelements in the network.